


Unbalancing

by smokingsignals



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, Kuvira (Avatar) Redemption, Pining, Romance, Shameless Smut, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:53:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26610196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smokingsignals/pseuds/smokingsignals
Summary: Kuvira winds up in over her head with a Fire Nation diplomat in Ba Sing Se. When she's called to stabilize the rest of the Earth Kingdom will she leave the best parts of herself, and her lover, behind?
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato, Kuvira (Avatar)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 118





	1. Kuvira's Gambit

| Kuvira | 

Kuvira didn’t know how the upper ring of Ba Sing Se could be celebrating right now. Yes, the city itself was finally stable, but the Earth Queen had barely been dead for six months, the Earth Kingdom was still in ruins and the capital city was sweltering in the late summer heat. Even the setting sun and late evening breeze could not shake the cloying, humid air.

Nonetheless, and maybe even against her better judgement, Kuvira stood in the middle of the large, opulent ballroom trying her best not to roll her eyes. She had more enemies than friends at this gala but it was proving to be a successful opportunity to intimidate anyone who dared challenge her. So she stood in her full military uniform where everyone else, wearing black tie and all their finery, could see her. People kept looking at her when they thought she wouldn’t notice, out of the corner of their eyes. She noticed.

She had spent the past few months making a name for herself as a leader in Ba Sing Se. All she did was box out power hungry idiots, put in hour after hour, planning the rebuilding of the Kingdom down to the finest, most excruciating detail. It was a matter of days until she would be officially declared provisional leader of the Earth Kingdom. It wasn’t like she hadn’t already been doing all the work, but the title would give her a stronger hold on the power she’d worked so hard to consolidate and quash the squabbling of her unqualified “rivals”.

She hadn’t let herself doubt even once that leaving Zaofu had been the right call. She was needed here. Even though Baatar, her only memory of home, typically drove her up the wall he was a useful asset from a tactical standpoint. He was tinkering with some magnet models when she’d left their office, one of several Beifong properties in the capital. Again, Baatar was worth the trouble in terms of funding alone. Momentarily caught in her thoughts she jerked up when she saw someone walking straight at her. A Presidential hopeful, Governor Hao, from the Chin province. She did not respect him or his vision for the Earth Kingdom but at least he wasn’t a coward. “Kuvira!” he called out as he approached, “didn’t you hear this was a party, young lady? Why the long face?”

Young lady? He may be brave but he was certainly a fool. “Governor.” She greeted him with a curt nod. “Don’t you think you’re enjoying yourself enough for the both of us?”

He looked down at the flutes of champagne he had in each hand and laughed. “Touche! Can’t get anything past you, can I? Putting us all to shame. It’s your fault, though, spending all day arguing with you about troop placement in rebel territory can drive a man to drink!”

“Hopefully we won’t have to argue about it too much longer.” She crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at Hao, who was at least two inches shorter than her. He was enough of a realist to know that she meant they’d be done fighting because she’d be given the Presidency and the final say about troop placements and everything else.

“Yes, hopefully…” he trailed off and didn’t seem to know what to say next. Kuvira felt like she’d made the score between them clear enough for one evening and decided to move on while she was ahead. “Have a pleasant evening, Governor Hao.” She turned on her heel and walked out of the main ballroom, spotting glass doors onto a balcony. Not hesitating at the chance for some fresh air, no matter how warm it would still be, she opened the door and strode outside. Only one figure stood on the large balcony, Kuvira avoided her and walked all the way out to the railing and placed her hands on it, enjoying the quiet for a moment.

Kuvira looked out on the city where she was born. The city that abandoned her and failed her country. The city she could save, if she only worked hard enough and wanted deeply enough. She knew she could do it. There was a better world, a united world, just out of reach. If anyone had the strength to get there it was Kuvira. She focused on a random, small apartment building in the middle ring and thought about the dozens of people who lived in it. Did they know she cared about them? How could she show them? How could she deserve their care in return? She scanned the skyline again and looked back across the balcony, at the woman now leaning on the railing. This time, however, she held Kuvira’s attention.

The lights from inside the party fanned out onto the balcony, bathing the woman in a glow as warm as the summer evening they stood in. She was leaned away from Kuvira, her face looking out across the city, hidden behind dark brown styled curls. Her dress was bright gold, unique from the hundreds of shades of green in the ballroom. The cut left the woman’s pale, gorgeous back completely exposed. Her spine arched perfectly, like a resting bow, as she leaned against the railing. Kuvira wanted to follow it all the way up, to push her beautiful hair out of the way to reveal her neck, to touch. This party now had the potential to be a success in more ways than one.

She hesitated for one fleeting moment. Was this a distraction from her goals? Her purpose? But then the woman turned, facing the city head on, and Kuvira couldn’t see her spine any longer. That simply wouldn’t do. She wanted this woman, badly, and she always gets what she wants.

“Excuse me,” she called, starting to move towards the elegant woman, who spun so quickly to face her that she knocked her glass off the railing.

“Shit!” she muttered, immediately dropping to try and pick up the pieces. She grabbed several chunks of glass and then stood up- right into Kuvira. She stumbled, unbalancing herself and started to slip. Kuvira grabbed her by the arms then, holding her in place so she wouldn’t fall, and tried her very best not to laugh as she managed to stop the woman’s very determined effort to tumble onto the floor. 

“Shit!” she said again, a little breathless this time, as she looked up at Kuvira with huge, surprised eyes. 

“I’m sorry I scared you,” Kuvira said, slowly dropping her hands once she was sure she’d be able to stay upright on her own, but she didn’t take a step backwards. “I’m Kuvira.”

“No, I’m so sorry that I bumped into you.” She looked down at her own hands, and then back up at Kuvira from under her lashes. “I’m Julin. And I know who you are, General.”

“Please, Kuvira is fine” she responded. She liked her whole title and the respect it commanded in formal situations, but she was hoping this situation would prove to be anything but formal. She found herself fighting the urge to put her fingers under Julin’s delicate chin and tilt her face up to meet her gaze. “Julin is a very pretty name. Where are you from?” Kuvira was immensely pleased to see the blush rise in Julin’s cheeks. She watched as she played with her hair.

“I’m from Caldera, the Fire Nation, originally. I’ve lived here for two years though, I work in the Fire Nation embassy to the Earth Kingdom. I really love my job. I’m supposed to be here meeting people with the Ambassador. Do you know Ambassador Iwamatsu? He’s much more charming than me, he’s in the ballroom. I just came out here for a breather for a minute. Wow, am I talking a lot? I feel like I’m talking a lot.”

Kuvira chuckled and Julin almost choked on her inhale. Sometimes Kuvira forgot the effect she could have on people. Deciding to push her luck a little she reached out and pushed Julin’s hair behind her ear. “Don’t worry, I think you’re very charming.” The blush on Julin’s cheeks deepend. “What do you do at the embassy?”

“Oh, I’m nobody important. I’m a communications specialist, I work on our publications, help the ambassador with some speeches, minor stuff, you know.” She looked up, finally meeting Kuvira’s eyes. She continued, her slight Fire Nation accent creeping in. “I really respect you. I love the Earth Kingdom, it’s my home. What you’re doing to help us is amazing. You’re making a real difference.”

The earnest words made Kuvira feel like she was about to blush, they’d caught her off guard. “Thank you, Julin. I care about the Earth Kingdom very much too. It’s always so nice to meet someone who feels the same way.” She took a moment to compose herself, set aside the stirring emotion, and refocused. She smiled, a dangerous smirk she knew made her look good and like she was up to no good at all once. Julin’s eyes dropped immediately to her mouth and stayed there. “Are you enjoying the party?” Kuvira asked, letting her voice get low and smooth.

Julin looked dazzled. “What? Oh, um, I guess? I think it’s winding down a little.”

The energy between them was tangible. Kuvira changed her mind about hating the heat, Julin looked beautiful with tiny beads of sweat on her collar bones and Kuvira wanted to lick each one off. As she stared Julin swayed forward, almost like she was being pulled by a magnet, to get closer to her. Kuvira leaned in too. “Julin, I hope you can forgive me for being so forward, I just don’t have much time to myself for going slowly and I’m sure you can relate. Can I take you home with me?”

Julin’s eyes moved between Kuvira’s eyes and mouth quickly. She held Kuvira’s hungry gaze after a moment and nodded. “I would really like that” she practically whispered. Kuvira smiled, big, and reached out to place her hand on the small of Julin’s beautiful back. “After you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! Wow this is the very first fic I've ever published which is crazy. Thank you so much for reading it. It would mean the world to me if you left any kudos or comments! I will be updating as soon as I can so bear with me and maybe give me feedback?


	2. The Agreement

| Julin |

She thought she’d been surprised when General Kuvira, yes that Kuvira, walked onto the balcony she was hiding on. She thought she’d been shocked when the stoic, serious general turned and spoke to her with a smile in her voice. She was wrong. Those feelings were nothing compared to the complete bewilderment Julin felt sitting in the passenger seat of Kuvira’s satomobile with the future leader of the Earth Kingdom’s hand on her thigh.

She found herself alternating between staring at Kuvira’s hand and staring at her profile. Julin could see the smirk pulling at Kuvira’s lips and wished she could read her mind. Although it seemed like the raven haired woman spoke freely and earnestly Julin had the feeling there was so much more to her. She had already heard a great deal about Kuvira’s rising star, the intelligent general, brave soldier, brilliant tactician, unyielding leader.

Julin absentmindedly played with her hair, remembering the feeling of Kuvira tucking a strand of it behind her ear. How her fingers had just brushed along her cheekbone. How sure she was of the motion, her effortless confidence. How such a simple gesture had made Julin feel weak in the knees.

Kuvira slowed the car down in front of a small, vintage looking house in a quiet part of the upper ring. Julin could not stop her blush when Kuvira opened the satomobile door, followed by the front door, for her. 

“Can I get you a drink?” Kuvira asked as they walked into her living room. Julin felt the weight of her dress as it swished with her steps. She wondered if Kuvira’s armor was as heavy as it looked, she couldn’t stop staring at her neck, the soft green collar, the metal shoulder plates that accentuated her arms, her sharp jawline- Kuvira was staring back at her. Was she supposed to be saying something? Oh shit! A drink?

Julin leaned against the closest wall, desperately hoping she wasn’t coming across as embarrassing as she feared. “I’m fine, thank you though.” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, looking down at her hands and then back up at Kuvira. The most important woman in the Earth Kingdom looked at her mouth, smiled, and then started walking towards her. She didn’t stop until they were chest to chest, Kuvira cupped her cheek in her hand and titled her face up to meet her gaze.

“Can I kiss you?” she husked, her deep voice stirring something deep within Julin. This time she was paying attention, the room could have burning and she wouldn’t have noticed, so completely rapt she was by Kuvira’s words in her beautiful voice. “Please,” she answered.

Kuvira kept her hand on Julin’s cheek as she brought their lips together. It started gentle, so gentle, and Julin felt like she was in a dream. How was this happening to her? How was this her life? She opened her mouth and choked on a moan when Kuvira deepened the kiss, her tounge moving against Julin’s. Kuvira started to press her chest to Julin’s, trapping her between her body and the wall. Julin’s thoughts were racing, trying to take everything in at once, the feel of Kuvira’s body against hers, the brush of her tongue on her lips, the fact that she was kissing the future President of the Earth Kingdom. She stopped thinking altogether, though, when the general's hands moved to her hair and held on tightly as she kissed her against the wall. 

Julin felt desperate for more, her grip on Kuvira’s hips not nearly enough contact. She slid her hands up, over Kuvira’s back, the structured uniform proving to be a frustrating barrier. Kuvira interrupted her exploration when she pulled back from their kiss only to focus her attention onto Julin's neck. Unable to stop herself, a loud moan escaped her lips when Kuvira got a little rougher and started to use her teeth. The taller woman pulled back, a satisfied smirk on her face. “You like that?”

Julin knew she must be beet red and tried to dodge and capture Kuvira’s lips in another kiss but the general held her still by her hair. With the smirk still fixed on her lips she repeated “I said, do you when I bite your neck?” Julin tested the hold on her hair, loving the feeling of Kuvira’s iron grip. “Yes,” she panted, “yes.”

“Good,” Kuvira responded, rewarding Julin with a searing kiss. Kuvira pressed her body hard against Julin, starting to move with more purpose. As she moved again to kiss down Julin’s neck she lowered her hands to Julin’s waist, pulling on the gown. A frustrated growl rumbled in her throat when the long skirt wouldn’t cooperate, the harsh sound feeling like music to Julin’s ears and making her whimper.

The general settled for hiking the skirt up enough that she could slide a leg between Julin’s and grinding it into her. The sensation rocked through Julin, she gasped and grabbed onto Kuvira’s strong shoulders as she pressed herself back down onto Kuvira’s muscular thigh. She could feel how wet she was, how much Kuvira’s body was affecting hers.

Suddenly Kuvira’s hands were under her ass, lifting her off the ground, and before she knew what had happened she was pinned to the wall by Kuvira’s hips. They panted for a second, staring at each other. She kept her hands on Kuvira’s shoulders to stay balanced, her legs locking around Kuvira’s. The older woman reached behind her to unzip her dress, dragging the zipper down, pulling the fabric off of Julin’s shoulders and unfastening her bra. “So beautiful” Kuvira murmured, rolling one of Julin’s nipples between her thumb and her forefinger, making her nerves sing.

Julin was acutely aware of the fact that her dress was pooled at her waist while Kuvira hadn’t removed a single piece of clothing. She reached out and tugged insistently at the front of Kuvira’s uniform as the older woman licked at her exposed collar bones. “Tsk tsk” Kuvira reprimanded, “so impatient.” As she was slowly placed back down on the ground Julin’s dress fell from her hips all the way to the floor, leaving her only in her underwear. Kuvira grabbed her hands and pinned them against the wall above her head with one of her own. Julin felt dazzled, panting and desperate for the touch she’d lost. 

“Can you be a good girl, Julin? Can you be patient?” Kuvira questioned, looking at Julin with her piercing eyes and a smile that spelled trouble. Julin nodded so enthusiastically she was worried she’d hurt herself. “Ok, ok” Kuvira agreed, and swept Julin off her feet and carried her into a large bedroom bridal style, leaving her clothes discarded on the living room floor.

Kuvira tossed her onto the bed like she weighed almost nothing, prompting Julin to wonder again what the older woman must look like underneath all her thick armor. She stayed on her back as Kuvira stood over her, beautiful and formidable. 

“Here’s what’s going to happen” Kuvira explained, Julin hanging on to every word. “You’re going to be patient and stay still while I get undressed, and if you’re good and patient I’ll let you touch me. Do you understand?”

Julin felt like her eyes must be as large as saucers. “Yes, Kuvira”

“And if you’re good,” Kuvira continued, “I’ll fuck you into the mattress. Is that clear?”

Julin gasped, and then held herself as still as possible, willing to do anything to hold up her end of the bargain to get fucked by the most powerful woman in the Earth Kingdom. 

“Good,” and in one gesture Kuvira had metalbent all the armor off of her uniform. “I’m glad we’re in agreement.” Julin wanted to sit up to see better, to get closer to the other woman, but she held still. Kuvira smirked and slowly walked around the bed as she began unfastening the collar of her top. Julin realized, to her horror, that Kuvira had walked just out of her eyesight. 

Fabric rustled and hit the ground behind her and Julin whined as she fought the urge to turn her head to see the skin she could hear Kuvira uncovering. “Be patient,” Kuvira sushed with a smile in her voice, “almost done.” The seconds felt like hours, each zipper or button held Julin’s whole attention and imagination. Finally, she felt the bed dip by her ankles and Kuvira’s strong hand grab her leg. Julin let out a shaky breath she hadn’t even been aware she was holding in. 

Julin felt the hand on her calf sliding up her body and fought the urge to shiver, to throw herself at Kuvira, to do anything except lay as still as possible. Her patience was rewarded as Kuvira commanded “Look at me”. Julin snapped her head to the origin of the deep voice and felt her mouth fall open.

Kuvira was kneeling on the bed, completely naked. Julin took in her beautiful body piece by piece and all at once. Her thighs like pillars, her sex, her muscular stomach, her heavy breasts, her strong arms and broad shoulders, her long neck, her perfect face. She felt like the air had been knocked out of her lungs, she reached for Kuvira with both hands.

“Ah ah, I didn’t say you could move you hands,” the general corrected. She swung a leg over Julin’s waist, grabbed her wrists and again pinned them over her head. Julin felt Kuvira leaning her weight on the younger woman’s arms, leaving her perfect ass just inches above Julin’s aching clit. She stared into Kuvira’s perfect, forest green eyes, breathless. She needed to figure out what to do to be good, to get what she wanted.

“I- I’m sorry,” she stuttered, and then took a gamble. “I’m sorry, General.”

Kuvira’s mouth fell open for a second, but she didn’t look angry. Her surprise morphed to what looked like pleasure. The general switched her grip on Julin’s wrists, freeing a hand to wrap around Julin’s throat. Julin felt an incredible rush as Kuvira tightened her fingers, adding pressure. “Say it again” she ordered, gripping Julin’s neck and holding her still, “so I know you mean it”

Julin licked her lips. “I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you, General.” Kuvira’s eyes fluttered closed for a second and she dropped her weight onto Julin’s hips, forcing a gasp out of the younger woman. When Kuvira’s eyes reopened they had a fire in them that Julin had never seen before.

“I believe you, Julin” Kuvira drawled. “I know you want to be a good girl.” Julin remained still even when Kuvira’s hand released her wrists and moved down to tweak her nipple. Kuvira ground down on Julin’s hips as she spoke, pulling the younger woman’s attention in even another direction. “Sometimes you just need a little help, huh?” Julin could feel Kuvira’s wetness on the front of her underwear and wanted so badly to reach down and touch her. She was jerked out of the thoughts when Kuvira’s hand left her throat and grabbed her by the hair, pulling it none to gently. “I said, you need help, don’t you?” 

“Yes, General, I need help” Julin gasped.

“More help than I thought, apparently. I can’t seem to keep your focus! I have an idea of what might better hold your attention, though. It’ll help you behave.” Julin whined as Kuvira stopped the pressure on her hips and slid down her body. She yelped as Kuvira grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her a foot down the bed. “Better” Kuvira mused, climbing back over her.

“You need to focus” Kuvira commanded, still making her way up the younger woman’s body. Once Julin realized what she was being told to focus on she moaned. Kuvira was going to sit on her face.

Julin trembled with anticipation as Kuvira swung one of her thick thighs over her head, situating herself so she was looking down at Julin’s body. Her muscles tensed and bunched as she held herself up over Julin, giving her a perfect view of her glistening folds. Julin whined, begging wordlessly to touch. Kuvira laughed throatily and finally, finally!, gave Julin what she wanted.

The wet heat of Kuvira’s sex was incredible. Julin lapped at her folds and worked her tongue inside. Kuvira’s answering groan went straight to Julin’s throbbing clit, ignored between her legs. Kuvira reached down and grabbed Julin’s breasts, gently caressing them. Julin flicked Kuvira’s clit with her tounge, forcing a satisfying moan and a “fuck” through gritted teeth. Feeling emboldened, Julin brought her hands up to hold Kuvira’s thighs. They felt like marble under her fingertips, unbelievable, and she gripped hard to give herself more leverage to eat Kuvira out.

As she got closer Kuvira started to chase the sensation, grinding herself down onto Julin. The younger woman swirled her tongue against Kuvira’s clit, building the pressure. She loved it, the taste, the sounds Kuvira made, the strong thighs under her hands. And then suddenly Julin cried out, shocked by a sudden, teasing sensation- Kuvira’s hand touching her over her underwear.

“Focus, Julin” Kuvira reminded, but the clear headed voice from before is long gone. The general’s voiced deepend by lust and frayed by her building orgasm. Julin could feel herself blushing, again, but focused her thoughts back on bringing the general over the edge with her tongue.

Kuvira continued to touch her with light, gentle caresses between her legs, always teasing but never on her clit. Julin ignored it, ignored all of it, and delved into Kuvira again, determined to make the general be the one struggling to focus. In just a few moments she had the older woman panting, her wetness on Julin’s chin and neck. Doubling down her efforts she sucked on Kuvira’s clit and her whole body jerked, seeking more and more from Julin’s mouth.

With a few more strokes of her tongue she was there, Kuvira groaned and shook through her orgasm, Julin taking her through it and licking her until she was completely spent and gasping at the sensation. 

Kuvira slipped off her face and flopped down onto the bed, catching her breath. Julin touched her then, running her fingers over her arms, and took her all in, watching the rise and fall of her chest. She was breathtaking, her dark hair still tied back but the loose strands framing her face looked impossibly perfect. With her eyes closed Julin saw a different Kuvira, a satisfied, relaxed woman, something close to vulnerable.

Still breathing heavily, Kuvira sat up and smirked at Julin. “You were good. Very good.” She reached out and ran her thumb over Julin’s bottom lip. “Now, what do you want, Julin?” The younger woman did not hesitate for a second.

“Fuck me” she begged, and Kuvira’s answering chuckle thrilled her. The raven haired woman straddled her again, nosed along her hair line, whispered into her ear “your wish is my command”, and Julin shuddered.

Kuvira again brought her hands into Julin’s loose curls and tightened her grip. They kissed, slowly at first, building up to something passionate and fiery. Julin let Kuvira tilt her head backwards, making room for her to bite and kiss her neck. When Kuvira lowered herself even further and sucked one of Julin’s nipples into her mouth she gasped, grabbing onto Kuvira’s back. Arching into her mouth, Julin gently raked her fingernails down, earning a groan in response.

Kuvira took her right hand out of Julin’s hair and pushed her pointer and middle finger against Julin’s lips, the younger woman obediently sucked them into her mouth. The anticipation was beginning to get to Julin and she ground her hips up into Kuvira’s ass, seeking any friction she could get. Kuvira swatted her hip, stilling her instantly, but the general pulled her fingers out of Julin’s mouth and slid them under Julin’s underwear, finding her clit.

Julin keened at the contact, throwing her head back and digging her nails into Kuvira’s back. The rough circles Kuvira made drew choked moans out of Julin but she was too gone, to desperate for the touch to care. “What a good girl” Kuvira praised, and Julin’s hips bucked into her hand.

Kuvira pulled her hand back but immediately pulled down Julin’s underwear, sliding the rest of the way down the younger woman's body and lining herself up with Julin’s glistening sex. Julin let her legs fall open, a small, thready “please” falling from her lips. She had never been this wrecked before, this shameless, and Kuvira had brought it out of her with such ease.

The general gave her a lopsided smile and a surprisingly gentle “how could I say no to a face like that?” She wrapped her hands under Julin’s thighs, holding her hips, and brought her mouth to Julin’s center. The first touch of her tongue was electric, Julin felt it everywhere. She bucked her hips again, trying to arch into Kuvira’s face, but the older woman held her still, using the angle to rub at her clit with her tongue.

Julin grabbed at the sheets, panting already. Kuvira backed off for a second, kissing at the wetness on Julin’s inner thighs. Julin whined impatiently and wiggled her hips, trying to get Kuvira back at her throbbing clit. Instead, Kuvira took her right hand, still spit slick, and circled it through the wetness at Julin’s entrance. She looked up at the younger woman with a raised eyebrow and Julin almost tripped over herself to agree, “yes, spirits please, Kuvira, fuck”.

Kuvira slid one finger into her and then a second, gently scissoring them in and out. Julin already felt ready for more, tossing her head back and letting a high cry escape her lips. When Kuvira’s mouth suddenly found her clit again Julin’s hands flew into her hair, holding on for dear life.

It was too much, the steady curving of Kuvira’s fingers deep inside her, the pressure her tongue circling onto her clit, the sight of Kuvira’s gorgeous shoulders and back, her head buried between Julin’s legs. In just a few minutes she was panting out “So good, Kuvira, I’m going to come, shit”.

Kuvira looked up at her and commanded “Come for me, Julin,” and then came back at her full force, increasing the pace of her expert hands, applying the focused pressure of her tongue onto her clit. Julin was powerless to do anything but choke back a scream as she rode out the powerful orgasm, her toes curling and her back arching off the bed. Kuvira fucked her through it, her hands and mouth still moving until Julin fell back onto the bed, covered in sweat and legs twitching.

Julin looked over to see Kuvira licking her wetness off of her fingers and thought that maybe she could orgasm again just from the sight of it. She leaned in and brought their mouths together, tasting her own orgasm on the older woman’s mouth. It was unbelievably sexy.

They fell together onto the bed, Kuvira on her back with Julin’s head on her chest. The metal bender wrapped Julin into her strong arms. “Shit,” Julin exhaled, “that was amazing”.

“Stay the night?” Kuvira asked, running a finger through the younger woman’s brown curls. Julin looked up at her and laughed, “How could I say no to a face like that?”

Laying in Kuvira’s bed in her arms felt like the safest place she had ever been. What have I gotten myself into? she wondered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! I promise I'm going to flesh Julin out more as a character I was just excited to write this. What do you think of the smut? I'm always open to feedback! Thanks so much again for reading


	3. The Announcement

| Kuvira |

She woke with the Fire Nation beauty still in her arms, feeling better rested than she had in weeks. The sun was not yet up but if Kuvira wanted to move her body at all before another day staying still in ridiculous meetings she should be in charge of she’d need to do it now. Julin twitched but didn’t wake when Kuvira slid her arms out from under her and got out of bed.

She threw on clothes for a morning workout, loose pants and a tight bra, and looked over at the sleeping woman as she walked out of the room. Julin was curled up, impossibly small in the bed, with her hair, tangled and messy from the night before fanned out around her face. Kuvira let the smile she felt take shape on her face, nobody around to see the small fondness she felt.

She moved then with purpose, into the gym she’d assembled in the guest bedroom of the old Beifong house she was borrowing during her time in Ba Sing Se. She hated needing the favor from Su, who had otherwise refused to support her, but the little bit of grovelling she’d convinced Baatar to do had been a good investment. 

She meditated first, always. Stilling herself, she emptied her mind, feeling only her breath and the sensation of the earth below her. The weight of her responsibility to the world felt lighter than usual this morning and she let it roll off her shoulders like water as she focused her mind on nothingness.

When she was centered, her bending calibrated and alive, she began to move. She needed to push herself, to feel her muscles burn. She intentionally slowed her pushups, dragging them out and forcing her arms to hold her weight as she unhurriedly brought herself up and down. The rest of her strength exercise was good, if not boring, but she was an earth bender and knew the importance of good foundations. Her mind wandered as she went through the motions.

She thought about Julin’s face, the gasp on her lips with her back pressed against the wall. The little high, hitched noises she made when Kuvira pulled her hair. The way her slender body felt under Kuvira’s strong, powerful one. The way she’d tasted.

Kuvira regained her focus after she slipped out of a lunge, her body not holding her weight steadily. She mentally chided herself for the sloppy mistake and decided to move on to bending practice. The feel of the metal sang in her body, her fingertips always felt like they were coated in steel when she bent.

The gift that had made her stand out all those years ago, that had cursed her to be thrown from her family, had never failed her since. She swung metal bands, hitting targets as small as a spider-fly. She tried not to lament the loss of all her metalbending sparring partners in Zaofu, none of them had ever been as good as her anyways, and instead focused on honing herself as much as she could. Baatar was a nonstarter, she did better by herself anyways.  
She felt the sweat on her skin and she pushed herself, making her moves tighter, deadlier as she went. She didn’t drop the metal plate she was hurdling at her target dummy when a loud knock came from the front door, hitting it right in the chest even after she turned her head to the noise.

Kuvira flung open the door, ready to snap at whichever unfortunate member of her staff was disturbing her this early but she immediately schooled her face. She recognized the man who stood before her, a representative of the United Republic Council. Why those foreigners on Earth Kingdom land in Republic City were the ones picking the interim President was beyond her, but she knew this was a good sign. A very good sign. 

“Good morning. You’ll have to excuse my appearance, I was in the middle of my morning exercise.”

“Of course, General.” The man responded, Kuvira did not know his name. “Please forgive my early arrival. Your presence is requested urgently this morning at the United Republic Council.”

“I understand. I will be there shortly.” Kuvira made sure her front door stayed closed enough that the representative couldn’t see the dress and the undergarments all over her living room. “Thank you for alerting me and I look forward to speaking with you soon.” She responded as diplomatically as she could, trying to keep from smiling victoriously.

This could only mean one thing. The Council had finally stopped dragging their feet, accepted that she was the only person fit for the job, and decided to name her President. She would be able to help the people, her people, so much more. When she closed the front door she leaned back against it, letting all the air out of her lungs slowly. 

Kuvira was not superstitious, she was a very rational person grounded in facts and figures. She was loathe to admit she had any anxiety about jinxing her success but she needed to stop thinking about it and not count her chicken-pigs until after they’d hatched. She walked back into her bedroom where Julin still lay, dead to the world.

She dressed into her uniform quietly and tied her hair back, careful and meticulous. Finally then, she put a gloved hand to Julin’s face to wake her. The younger woman stirred, big amber eyes opening slowly. Kuvira set aside the flutter she felt in her chest when Julin smiled a big, dopey smile up at her.

“Good morning Julin. How did you sleep?”

The fire nation woman hummed contently. “So well.” She blinked herself more awake, apparently realizing Kuvira was completely dressed. “What time is it?”

“Still very early. I’m sorry, I’ve been called in to an urgent meeting. I wish I didn’t have to go but I do.”

“Oh, I understand,” Julin sat up, her brown hair draping onto her shoulders. Kuvira was struck by how beautiful she was, her pale skin shining in the early morning light. “I can go too”

“A satomobile will be here for you shortly. Again, I’m sorry to be cutting out so rudely. I am very glad I met you last night, Julin. I will see you sometime soon.” With a wink Kuvira left Julin sitting in her bed, slightly slack jawed.

Her drive to the United Republic Council Office felt painstaking slow, Kuvira’s excitement pushing her to cover ground as quickly as possible. When she finally arrived at the, in her humble opinion, ridiculously grand building she moved with practiced poise and authority. She marched in front of the assembled group and bowed her head in deference as was expected of her.

Before her, seated at a massive round table, was an impressive group of people. Ambassadors from the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes, Councilman Tenzin and a few young people Kuvira did not know, two men and a woman.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice, General” Tenzin began, his deep voice clear and commanding, “it’s an honor to finally meet you. I’ve heard a great deal about your work to support the Earth Kingdom in this time of crisis.”

Kuvira bowed her head again, “It is a honor to serve the people of this great Kingdom and to meet you, Councilman.” 

“As I’m sure you’ve guessed from the urgency of this meeting, the situation in the other provinces has worsened.” The Northern Water tribe ambassador, a tall reedy man with tiny glasses spoke next. “Now that Ba Sing Se is stabilized we are ready to name an interim President and begin the work of reuniting the rest of the Kingdom until Prince Wu is ready to take the throne.” Kuvira managed not to roll her eyes at the idiot Prince’s name.

Ambassador Iwamatsu of the Fire Nation- Julin’s boss, Kuvira remembered, gave her a warm smile. “This Council agrees you have proven yourself to be a capable and dedicated leader. We would like to ask you to serve as President of the Earth Kingdom.”

Kuvira closed her eyes, just for a second, to let the words sink in. She was President. She could save this country. All her work thus far had paid of and the hard work was just about to begin. She smiled. “Thank you, ambassador.” She answered. “It would be the highest honor of my life to accept the Presidency and to continue to serve my country.”

The rest of the day was an unbelievable blur, briefings on the skirmishes in the Provinces Kuvira would be expected to put down, meetings with each of the ambassadors who wanted to talk her ear off about their nation’s “special relationship” with the Earth Kingdom to try to secure her favor, and about one million other odds and ends.  
She learned that the young people were friends of the Avatar, there from Republic City with Tenzin. Kuvira immediately did not trust them for that reason, seeing as the Avatar was missing and useless when the Earth Kingdom needed her most. The feeling seemed to be mutual and the group mostly spoke coldly to her. Mako, the surly cop, mostly stared out the window. His brother, Bolin, on the other hand, seemed to be so smitten with Opal Beifong that he’d do just about anything Kuvira said as long as she referenced the little airbender somehow. Interesting. 

Asami, the engineer, gave notes on some of Baatar’s designs after he showed up in the middle of the day. He looked a bit perturbed that nobody had thought to get him earlier. Kuvira had to disguise her laugh as a cough at his assumption that he was somehow essential to what she was doing. 

The most important day of her life ended with the announcement of Kuvira as the official leader of the Earth Kingdom. She made a speech on the radio, to her people, for the first time and even though she had not prepared anything it was easy to speak from her heart about her vision for a single Earth Kingdom, united and safe. For the happiness and prosperity her people deserved. She meant every word, could picture it all.

She didn’t return to her house until well after midnight. Julin’s clothes were gone, obviously, but the sight of her perfectly tidy living room made her just a tiny bit sad. She went to sleep exhausted, hopeful, and proud.

A week later a meeting with an engineer about Bataar’s magnetic train plan (his best concept to date, Kuvira freely admitted) fell through, leaving President Kuvira with a free two hour window in the middle of the day. It gave her an idea.

She walked in to the Fire Nation Embassy unannounced fifteen minutes later. The receptionist didn’t look up from his typewriter as he heard Kuvira approach.

“Do you have an appointment?” He asked, monotone.

“I didn’t think I’d be needing one” she answered, almost forgiving his rudeness after the cartoonish double take he did at her voice.

“Madame President! I’m sorry! I didn’t realize it was you. I would have never- I’m sorry, the Ambassador isn’t in, I can go get-”

“That won’t be necessary,” Kuvira interrupted. “I’m looking for Julin. In communications?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little foundation!! Can you tell this Kuvira is a little bit of a romantic? I can't help it! If you have any feedback at all let me know!! <3


	4. The Surprise

| Julin |

As a matter of principle, she hated surprises. After making a career of knowing the right thing to say Julin liked to be as informed as possible. Being caught off guard was never a good thing in her line of work, and in her more general experience, in life. Julin was surprised to see the newly appointed President of the Earth Kingdom standing in front of her desk in the middle of a work day and she was faced then with her greatest fear- speechlessness. 

She stared at Kuvira with her mouth slightly open, having no idea where to begin. Would it be presumptuous to assume the general was here on personal, not professional business? Why would she have come to the communications office, only on the third floor, if that was the case? The other option, that Kuvira was here to see her, seemed a little bit too good to be true. Before she could work out what she wanted to say the older woman spoke,

“Good morning, Julin. Ah- is it still the morning?”

Julin fumbled with her wristwatch, “It’s just before midday, madam President” she answered.

“Perfect timing,” answered Kuvira. “I have a last minute opening in my schedule and was wondering if you were free for lunch?”

She kept fidgeting with the watch as she met the dark green eyes that held her in place. “I have an hour, I would just need to ask the Ambassador-”

“Nonsense,” Kuvira cut in, “I will personally let him know I need you on official Earth Kingdom business. I need to pick your brain, no reason we can’t do that over lunch.”

Julin’s heart sank a little at her words, Kuvira wasn’t here for her, she just needed a Fire Nation citizen. “Of course, President Kuvira.” She tried not to let herself feel too disappointed, any time with the President was an honor and an opportunity.

She felt underdressed in her pencil skirt and blouse as the general held the door into the back seat of the chauffeured vehicle for her. Kuvira sat next to her, in her impressive military uniform, and directed her driver to one of the nicest restaurants in Ba Sing Se.

Julin wondered about this world, the circles Kuvira moved in, the value of her time and her wisdom. A world she aspired to be a part of, to be worthy of, to contribute to. She looked to the President, again, the way she so effortlessly commanded attention and respect.

“Congratulations on being named President,” Julin started, “It’s incredibly deserved. I am so honored to be working with your administration, Madam President.”

“Kuvira, please, Julin,” the general corrected, “unless you’d like me to call you Miss…?”

“Ido” Julin laughed, “Julin is good, though. Nobody calls me Miss Ido, not even at work.”

“Well then Julin it is. Formalities can be so exhausting, can’t they?” The general moved her hand as she spoke, tucking a stray hair behind Julin’s ear once again. The younger woman’s spirits rose again with the casualness of the touch, its subtle intimacy.

“I completely agree! The amount of times I’ve put my foot in my mouth, and I’m a professional at speaking!” Julin babbled, tripping over her words, “There is just so much that can go wrong and the people we work with are so important and it’s critical not to offend. I know exactly what you mean and- wow, I’m rambling again aren’t I?” 

Kuvira answered with a chuckle, deep in her chest and completely intoxicating. Julin would make a fool of herself over and over again just to keep hearing that sound. “I’m sorry, Kuvira. I don’t know if anyone has ever told you this before but you’re a little intimidating,” she joked.

The general actually laughed at that, making Julin’s day. “Who, me?” she asked, with a mock innocent rise of her thick eyebrows. “No, I’ve never got that before.”

Julin had been to many fancy meals with the Ambassador, parties and galas. Being the center of the event, the attention, was a very different experience. Julin kept deciding a new moment, a new feeling was her favorite part- Kuvira’s hand on the small of her back as they walked to their table, her deep voice advising her on the best choice on the menu, how she asked questions about Julin’s childhood in the Fire Nation and really listened to her answer.

The tone shifted after they finished eating when Kuvira reached across the table and grabbed the diplomat’s wrist. “I have a proposition for you, Julin.” Her intense green eyes studied Julin’s face, meeting her gaze. Julin nodded, listening.

“Next week I’m leaving Ba Sing Se. I can’t save the Earth Kingdom from inside the Upper Ring. I need to get out and help my people. I’ve looked at your work, you’re a brilliant speech writer. I’ll need one on my staff as we travel from State to State. To help me reach my people, to inspire them and give them hope. I know your work in the Embassy is important to you but I’m hoping you’ll come with me. I’m hoping you’ll help me unite the Earth Kingdom.”

Julin once again found herself speechless, stunned by Kuvira’s words. “Write speeches? For you?” she managed to murmur out.

The President smirked back at her, “Yes, my speeches for me. I need to show people, who might be scared or confused, that following me will save them from the problems they’re facing. A wise woman once told me I was intimidating. I need to be more than that, to command respect and demonstrate I’m a leader worth following.” She moved her hand from Julin’s wrist to her palm, lacing their fingers together. “You can do that, Julin. I want you to join me.”

Julin rolled the idea in her mind. To travel with Kuvira, to help her address the crowds in the tumultuous Earth Kingdom States. She thought about the impact she was making in Ba Sing Se, helping the ambassador secure favorable trade deals and rehabilitating the image of the Fire Nation in the eyes of Earth Kingdom citizens. She then imagined what she could do with Kuvira, in the country she’d come to love as her home. To reach people, to inspire those hurt and isolated by the last six months of chaos since the assassination of the Queen.

She had faith in Kuvira and knew that the words would write themselves. That putting pen to paper to express the admiration she felt for the interim President would feel as natural as breathing. She met her deep green eyes, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Can I think about it? Just for today?” She asked.

“Of course,” Kuvira smiled at her warmly. “I’ll be in various meetings until eight, why don’t you come over to my house after then and we can discuss the details. You remember where it is, right?” and then the President of the Earth Kingdom winked at her again.

Julin made sure her jaw wasn’t on the floor, practically shaking her head to refocus. “Yes, that sounds good. I can do that, I’d love to!”

It meant something Kuvira was inviting her back to her house, right? The general had winked at her, that had to mean something! Why had she said ‘I’d love to’ so enthusiastically? Julin couldn’t think straight for hours after Kuvira dropped her off at the Embassy, questions running through her mind a hundred miles an hour.

She moved through the rest of her day at work in a haze, drafting statements for Kuvira in her head instead of rephrasing a finance report like she was supposed to. The idea was so tempting. And the opportunity if afforded to spend even more time with the general was tempting as well. She wanted to touch Kuvira again, for Kuvira to touch her. It had felt a bit like what Julin would guess bending would feel like, her whole body alive with sensation, something more powerful than her right at her fingertips.

Julin managed to leave work with enough time to get ready without urgency. She changed her outfit, optimistically switching her plain undergarments into more attractive black lace ones. She let her brown hair drape over her shoulders, hoping it would tempt Kuvira to push back behind her ear again. She picked out a casual dress that she hoped looked effortlessly put together.

She was almost vibrating with excitement by the time she made it to the President’s residence, energy coursing through her body. The building looked beautiful in the late evening twilight, the purple sky coloring the whole world in a warm glow.

She knocked on the door with as much confidence as she could muster. It became much harder to listen to her hesitations about dropping everything to travel around the Earth Kingdom when Kuvira opened the door. The general stood before her with her black hair half down, coming loose around her face like she’d been running her fingers through it. She’d smudged a small streak of ink on her cheek just under her beauty mark. She was out of her uniform, in a tank top and loose green pants like the ones she’d been wearing the morning she was named President.

“Please, come in. I’m sorry for my appearance, sometimes I have to move my body to really think. We have a lot to accomplish before we leave next week.” Julin paid careful attention to the tone of her voice, the implication of the ‘we’. “Have you thought any more about my offer?”

“Yes, I’ve been thinking about you ever since our conversation,” Julin answered.

“My offer, you mean?” Kuvira questioned, a knowing smile starting to take shape on her face.

“Yes, of course!” Julin all but yelped. How could Kuvira still want her as a speech writer after this many verbal blunders? “Your offer. Let’s discuss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hi! Thank you everyone for the feedback, I'm having so much fun watching this story take shape. As always let me know what you think and thank you for reading!


	5. The Negotiation

| Kuvira |

The discussion was a gesture, Kuvira had decided. She’d never show her hand so early but she had her heart set on- no, not her heart. She reminded herself that had nothing to do with this. Her mind, rather, was made up. Julin would be coming with her into the Earth Kingdom, she wouldn’t accept anyone else as head of communications.

She’d spent her free time that afternoon rereading Julin’s moving words, how she earnestly and beautifully spoke of government affairs that would have normally bored even Kuvira. If she was going to bring the tattered Earth Kingdom together again she’d need to never have a toe out of line or a hair out of place. Julin would never let her words fail her, that was essential.

The fact that Kuvira’s mind kept wandering back to the diplomat’s plush lips and the way they looked around her fingers was an important factor to consider, but she was confident that she wouldn’t let the distraction become a problem of any consequence. If she was careful she could enjoy those lips for both the words they spoke and for the way they felt on her body. Tonight would be an interesting test if nothing else.

She’d been poring over some updates on the final tests on her new train when Julin arrived, looking windswept and ethereal in a dress the color of dusty rose. She now sat across from Kuvira in her living room reviewing the job offer. Normally Kuvira’s staff would be in charge of the details of hirings but the President had a vested interest in this case and had personally drawn up the proposal herself.

Kuvira admired the way Julin looked carefully at every page, not skimming. She didn’t fidget under Kuvira’s close attention, only a faint blush coloring her cheeks whenever she looked up and they made eye contact. The President could have found something more productive to do, spirits knew how much work there was to be done, but she was enjoying the quiet moment too much to tear herself away. Julin set the paperwork down when she finished reading and met Kuvira’s gaze once again.

“The terms are generous, Kuvira. I feel like I should be honest that I’ve never had this large of a role before. I’m not the head of communications for the Embassy, are you sure you want me to be yours?”

Kuvira smiled, holding the multiple meanings of ‘be yours’ in her head. She did not feel conflicted about any of her desires. “Yes, I’m sure. I like how you communicate and I’ll need one dedicated, adaptable person rather than a large team. I have no doubts that you are more than qualified for the role. What is giving you pause?”

“You have final say on any official communication, publication or print I produce in my capacity as your Head of Communications?” Julin confirmed, eyes scanning the paper she held.

“Yes,” Kuvira answered. “That is non-negotiable. What you write on your own is yours, of course, but I will need to approve anything else in relation to our work before release.”

Julin hummed, agreeing, and flipped through the pages again, settling on a wall of text. “I’d be expected to stay moving with you everywhere you went? No concrete schedule beyond just being needed when I’m needed?”

Kuvira nodded, understanding. “Yes, I know that sounds like a big commitment. To be blunt, this is a big commitment. There is no way to know the schedule more than a few days in advance or when a crisis for which you’ll be needed will come up. I’ll add a stipulation that you won’t be expected to do any overtime you don’t personally approve of.” 

Kuvira got up and moved slowly towards Julin, watching with pleasure as the younger woman let her head tilt back to watch Kuvira as she approached. She added an amendment to the document and signed her name next to it, letting her fingers brush across Julin’s as she handed to document back for approval.

Julin took the pen back from Kuvira, her elegant fingers balancing it just above the dotted line for her to sign. Kuvira sat next to her on her living room couch, letting their thighs touch each other. “Is there anything else I can clarify for you, Julin?”

The amber eyes that floated through her thoughts several times a day captured her once again. “I-,” Julin started, appearing to choose her words carefully, “I’m also wondering about, if, well, if you have any other expectations of me in this role.” She blinked a few times and then clarified, “Sexual expectations.”

She’d been anticipating this question in one form or another and wanted her answer to be understood clearly. She slid back so she was no longer touching the younger woman and said earnestly “This offer is for your exceptional writing skills and those skills alone, with no expectation of anything else, especially sexually. Is that clear?”

Julin did the adorable thing where she chewed on her bottom lip, indicating she was thinking hard, and nodded. Kuvira also needed her other interests to be understood. 

“That being said, I find you incredibly attractive,” she continued. “I am confident that we could have separate professional and personal relationships. That is something I would like to explore with you if you were also interested. But I have no expectations or urgency, and my utmost interest is to serving the people of the Earth Kingdom. One word from you and I will never pursue you again. Do you understand?”

Julin’s breath escaped her lips in a little huff, like she’d been holding it in. She picked up the pen and signed the document with confidence, agreeing to everything the older woman was offering. Kuvira was thrilled and relieved in equal parts, the gratefulness for securing a competent and passionate writer for her staff and the excitement for the possibilities ringing in her body.

The diplomat looked at Kuvira for an electric moment, placing her hand on top of the President’s. The little gesture, seeming to chase Kuvira’s second offer, lit a fire in the older woman. She reached out and gently grabbed Julin’s chin and asked as calmly as she could “What do you want now, Julin?”

“Please, kiss me” the younger woman answered, sliding her hands onto Kuvira’s muscular thighs. The general didn’t hesitate for a second longer, bringing their lips together, a little gracelessly in her urgency.

They kissed hungrily, Kuvira was reminded of why she couldn’t keep Julin out of her head all week. The tiny noises she made while they kissed, of surprise and pleasure, drove the older woman wild. She ran her fingers into Julin’s thick brown hair and held tight, loving the feeling, the control. She held her still as she pulled back from the kiss, enjoying the startled whine Julin made at the loss of her lips.

The whine turned into a lustful moan when Kuvira locked her lips onto the brunette’s neck, using her grip in her hair to hold her head back, giving herself an expanse of pale skin to mark up. Julin’s hands tightened on Kuvira’s thighs, giving the general an idea. Unceremoniously she grabbed the younger woman and dragged her onto her lap, the feeling of Julin’s legs tightly bracketing her hips making her groan.

Julin began running her hands up Kuvira’s body, under her shirt, over her abs and cupping her breasts. The general was losing faith that they’d make it all the way to her bedroom and she was finding it hard to care. She wanted to fuck her communications manager on the coffee table.

Without breaking their kiss she lifted Julin and walked the two steps over to the table with the younger woman still straddling her hips. She placed her onto the low table and knelt between the younger woman’s legs. She ran her hands up and down her calves while Julin sat up on her elbows to stare at her, panting.  
“You, ugh, fuck Kuvira, please” the younger woman begged, her tangled hair and wet lips making her look like sex on legs. Kuvira smirked, murmuring “I like rendering my communications specialist speechless”.

“Figures,” Julin panted out, “you do it so often.”

Kuvira tutted her displeasure. “That was a little too coherent, I’ll have to do something about that.” Before Julin could do anything but look at Kuvira wide eyed the raven haired woman grabbed her ankle and dragged her forward until her ass was on the very edge of the table, her dress hiked up exposing her underwear.

The very small, black lacy thong Kuvira found under Julin’s dress thrilled her. “Did you wear this here for me?” The brunette bit her lip and nodded. Fuck, the general thought, that’s so fucking hot. “Did you think about me fucking you when you got dressed and came over here?”

“Yes, Kuvira” she answered on an exhale, she sounded like she was still thinking about Kuvira fucking her. “That can be arranged,” the older woman responded.

Unable to stop herself from showing off, loving the rough, messy moment they were sharing, Kuvira ripped the underwear off with her teeth. She kept her head between Julin’s thighs, pausing to enjoy her gasp, how her wetness made her cunt shine. She reached up to grab her breasts, feel their supple weight under the dress.

The younger woman whined, apparently feeling impatient again, and nudged Kuvira’s head with her leg, trying to pull her still closer. Kuvira used the back of her hand to smack Julin’s ass, hard, bringing another delicious gasp out of her. She was also feeling rather impatient herself and was almost ready for the teasing to be over.

Kuvira brought two of her fingers across Julin’s slit, feeling the slick skin and making Julin hiss with anticipation. The general then started with her mouth, tiny kitten licks that she could feel making the brunette’s toes curl. She backed off for a second to praise her, “you taste so good, Julin,” and the younger woman twisted her hands into Kuvira’s hair, desperate for more.

“Harder, fuck me harder, Kuvira” the younger woman demanded. Kuvira looked up and was met with amber eyes and flushed cheeks. She loved the way her name sounded on Julin’s soft lips.

Finally ready to stop playing with her prize, Kuvira dove in with purpose. She lapped at Julin’s sex, sliding her tounge into her and relishing the tiny noises escaping the younger woman. She worked a finger, than a second into her lover, curving them just so, making Julin arch her back off of the coffee table.

She could feel Julin getting close, the tremor of her thighs next to her ears, how tightly she gripped Kuvira’s black hair, completely pulling it out of place. The high pitched babbling spilling over her lips was music to Kuvira, mystifying and beautiful.  
“Please, ‘vira. Make me come, make me your bitch. So close, I-”

Julin stopped forming words when Kuvira starting sucking on her clit. Kuvira felt the moment the brunette’s whole body went tense, head thrown back and caught in a powerful orgasm. Kuvira kept her focus, fucking her through her climax and gentling her touch as Julin started to settle back down.

The soft, relaxed sigh Julin let out, such a sharp shift from the woman begging to be fucked hard over a table in Kuvira’s living room seconds before, made the general laugh out loud. The younger woman started at the noise, apparently self conscious at being laughed at.

“No, no, no, not laughing at you” Kuvira murmured, pulling her with ease off of the table and onto her lap on the floor. Julin’s dress slid back into place but Kuvira felt smug knowing the ruined underwear were on her floor and not on Julin’s gorgeous hips. “You have a little bit of a mouth on you in bed, you know that?” Kuvira asked the diplomat.

The blush on her cheeks rose again and Julin hid her face in Kuvira’s neck, apparently unable to meet her eyes. Kuvira wasn’t one to complain, especially when the younger woman started sucking bruises onto her chest.

Kuvira didn’t want to move, or plan, or think. She’d had enough of that for the day. She sat back and let Julin open her shirt and take one of her breasts into her mouth. Kuvira ran her fingers through the brunette’s wavy hair while she sucked on one nipple and then the other.

She made room for Julin to unbutton her pants and unceremoniously slide her hand down the front of them, over her dark curls and lazily brush her fingers against Kuvira’s clit. The precise motions the younger woman made had Kuvira panting into her hair, hips twitching.

Julin suddenly pushed Kuvira back by the shoulders until she was laying on her back, picking up the pace. She brought their lips together in a passionate kiss as she continued to toy with Kuvira’s clit under her pants. They were both sweaty, still in all their clothes, hair tangled and skin flushed.

Kuvira’s orgasm came seemingly out of nowhere, catching both of them off guard. They kissed through it, Kuvira’s hands grabbing Julin’s ass as she straddled her, Julin’s free hand on Kuvira’s chest. 

They lay together, on the living room floor, catching their breath for a moment. Julin had a leg thrown over the President and played with a few strands of her hair. Kuvira enjoyed it for a little while, the quiet didn’t feel oppressive. After a couple of minutes, though, she started to feel fidgety.

She sat up, knowing it would burst the little bubble they’d been in. It had been nice but she didn’t have time for bubbles. If she was going to be ready to leave the city in a week, and to handle brining Julin with her, they’d have to be able to compartmentalize. This was a test she couldn’t afford to fail.

Julin sat up too, then, looking peaceful and relaxed. Kuvira ran a hand over her cheek, gripping her chin, and Julin didn’t shy away from her gaze. The President liked that, a lot. “You have such beautiful eyes,” she remarked.

“Thank you,” Julin answered, “so do you. They suit you, I can tell.” Kuvira wondered what she meant but didn’t have time or energy to keep their conversation going. She needed to get back to work.

“That’s very kind of you to say.” She stood up and started fixing her uniform, and as she’d hoped Julin stood too and dusted herself off and fixed her hair a bit. Kuvira gathered up the completed contract from where it had been shoved on the table and handed it to Julin.

“Thank you for joining us, I’m happy to have you on the team. You will be getting updates from me or my other staff soon, please be prepared to leave within the week.” Kuvira reminded.

“I look forward to it,” Julin responded. She walked over to the front door with a little sway in her hips, and when Kuvira opened the door for her the younger woman winked at her, “Speak to you soon, Madam President.” Without thinking and in response to the sass, Kuvira slapped Julin’s ass as she walked away, earning her a startled gasp, shocked amber eyes and a goofy smile.

Kuvira winked back and closed her front door. The President let herself gloat for one second, puffing her chest out a little as she threw out Julin’s ruined underwear. And then it was back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have so much fun writing Kuvira's POV, I hope you like it!! Any suggestions? Thank you again for reading!


	6. The Departure

| Julin |

To drop everything on a whim for a life on the road, and potentially in the midst of combat, was very unlike her. And yet, she felt sure of herself. If anybody could save the Earth Kingdom from the chaos it was facing it was Kuvira and Julin was thrilled, honored even, to be a part of it. She looked around her small room on the train and felt the train moving over its tracks, this was to be her home for the foreseeable future. It was plain, nothing but a double bed, a dresser and a small table with the smallest bathroom she’d ever seen, but she couldn’t have been happier.

She took her time unpacking her bag, there wasn’t that much to do. She had some spare writing supplies, a few extra pairs of civilian clothes, a picture of her parents. She fidgeted with her new uniform, slightly dismayed the room looked almost exactly the same as she’d when she’d arrived. She’s decides to find decorative things as they travel as momentos. She’d never been too attached to her apartment in Ba Sing Se but she has hope that this one little room will feel like a space all her own soon.

“Agh, shoot-” a muffled voice from the hallway carried into her room, drawing her out of her mental decorating. She opened her door to peer out, finding a man carrying a few too many boxes and struggling to stay balanced.

“Can I help you with that?” Julin ventured out into the hall, squashing her natural timidness as much as possible. A “please!” came from somewhere in the boxes so Julin grabbed two, holding the heavy packages in front of her. The owner of all the belongings stopped a few doors down from her and tumbled into the room, practically throwing all the boxes inside while Julin watched wide eyed. 

Without the boxes in the way she came face to face with a young man with warm green eyes and jet black hair. “Thank you! I have no idea how I would have gotten everything here without you. People have told me I overpack before, I’m not sure I believe that’s possible. Always good to be prepared! I just didn’t think about moving everything. So thank you! Really, you’re too kind.” He stuck out a hand, his uniform sleeves a bit rumpled, “I’m Bolin!”

Julin smiled, charmed by his earnest enthusiasm. She put the boxes she carried onto his table and shook his hand, “It’s no trouble at all! I’m happy to know a neighbor. And I’m Julin.”

“Wow!” he exclaimed, “Julin and Bolin sound so similar! Our couple name would just be Bolin.” Julin’s mouth fell open a little, she had no idea what to say to that. “Or just Julin, I guess,” he seemed to discuss with himself, finally catching the look on her face. “Oh! Not that- we aren’t going- I wasn’t suggesting, I mean, I have a girlfriend!” he stumbled over himself.

She laughed, finding his attempt to fit a hundred ideas into one sentence very relatable. Bolin rubbed the back of neck a little sheepishly, “Her name is Opal and she’s pretty much the greatest.”

“I’m happy for you” Julin answered, finding her new neighbor very endearing. “Do you know where your workspace is? I haven’t been to see mine yet.”

“No! Train adventure, let’s go!” Bolin practically took off running, Julin close at his heels.

As they wandered up and down the cars Bolin told her all about his life before deciding to take an offer to work for Kuvira. At first she’d thought he’d been kidding, but his detailed description of all the times he’d had with his brother, their friend and the literal Avatar and all their fights and travels had her convinced. He was kind and charming, it didn’t surprised her at all that Kuvira had wanted him to help her make personal connections in the provinces.

“Where are all of your friends now?” Julin asked as they poked around the main shared workspace. There was a large room with desks scattered around, they’d claimed desks next to each other. Bolin spun around in his chair as he responded, “Mako’s a detective back in Republic City, Asami is there too working on her company. Nobody’s heard from Korra for a bit but she’s in the South Pole with her family.”

Julin tried not to be too impressed that she knew someone who was on first name basis with the Avatar. “What about you?” Bolin continued, “How did you decide to come work for Kuvira?”

She rearranged her pens on her desk, picking her next words carefully. She didn’t think of her other involvements with Kuvira as a secret, but she wanted to be respected professionally. “I liked writing for the Fire Nation embassy, it was fun. But it wasn’t impactful, I guess. Kuvira is going to have an impact, just seeing what she’s already accomplished in Ba Sing Se makes me sure of it. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to do something so meaningful, I guess.”

“Damn, I just needed a job that Mako didn’t get for me!” Bolin joked, “You just had to show me up, huh?”

“Bolin, Julin,” a deep voice came from behind them, “I’m happy to see you’re making yourselves at home. Eager to get started already?” Kuvira stood in the doorway with a small smile on her lips. Julin was relieved to see her, she hadn’t laid eyes on the person she came here for since she’d gone to her house to accept the job offer (and everything else that had followed). Kuvira projected calm authority, now more than ever as they were en route to start bringing the Earth Kingdom back together. They got further South, closer to the Zuihou region, every minute.

“Thank you, madam President,” Julin bowed her head respectfully. She hoped she hadn’t just imagined a spark in Kuvira’s beautiful, dark green eyes. The younger woman was skilled (and very experienced) at professional flattery and posturing. “We’re happy to be here at your service.” Bolin nodded along, looking excited.

“Follow me to the conference room, we have some plans to go over before we arrive tomorrow,” Kuvira responded, not waiting for them to move before she turned on her heel. She didn’t doubt at all that they’d be immediately behind her and she was right. Julin stayed a pace behind her, wondering how she tied her hair back into the twist at the nape of her neck.

A group of people clearly more important than Julin or Bolin were already in the large room Kuvira led them into. Everyone took a seat except for Kuvira who stood at the head of the long table, holding the attention of the room with ease. Julin was introduced to the group before her, a few Generals, Baatar Beifong, who looked like he’d smelled something foul unless Kuvira was looking directly at him, and a zany entrepreneur of some kind and his assistant.

Julin was directed to work on a few different kinds of publications for the citizens of the Zuihou region in particular, emphasizing the benefits of joining the reunification and Kuvira’s leadership. It wouldn’t be hard to think of what to say.

A few hours later Julin was the last person in the workspace. She was tinkering with a few phrases on pamphlets for specific audiences in Zuihou, trying to make them seem casual enough to be accessible but formal enough to project authority. Finding the balance was important.

“Fancy seeing you here, Julin.” Despite speaking softly Kuvira made Julin jump, catching her off guard in the dimly lit room. The President placed her hands on Julin’s shoulders to calm her, rubbing soothing circles onto her back. “Sorry, I have a bad habit of sneaking up on people. Apparently I’m a little quiet on my feet.”

“Not need to apologize, and I’m a little jumpy generally anyways” Julin responded lightly, leaning into the strong hands on her back. “I’m just still editing, I’ll have them wrapped up soon.”

“You’re a night owl, I see,” Kuvira responded, moving to pick up some maps from a nearby desk. “Do you mind if I get some work done here with you?”

Julin fought the urge to beam at the metalbender, trying to respond evenly. “Not at all, I would really like that.”

The hours passed as Julin wrote and rewrote her phrasing and Kuvira made notes on a map of the Earth Kingdom. Julin finished a few minutes earlier so she watched the President scour the papers before her, pen carefully marking them up. They walked back to the residential part of the train together when they finished late that night. Kuvira, as she now had a habit of doing, pushed Julin’s hair behind her ear as they stood outside her door. Julin felt the brush of her fingers long after Kuvira wished her a good night and left for her own room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry it's been a minute, my semester is pretty busy. Kuvira and Julin will be seeing more of each other soon!


	7. The Liason

| Kuvira |

It’s not that she had romanticized the work of uniting the splintered pieces of a once-great Earth Kingdom, she was a realist. She knew it would be greuling. She knew it would make her enemies. She had just maybe underestimated the amount of paperwork there would be. Or maybe it was the political posturing that was getting to her. They’d been on the campaign for a month and, despite her swallowing her pride and reciting the pretty words that were handed to her every day she had very little to show for it. Kuvira was wired, more strung out than she would ever admit.

Today, especially, had been horrible. The morning started with Baatar wasting her time for an hour explaining mechanics of weapons that were his job to understand, not hers. The fool seemed to think they were bonding over the schematics, he made a point to touch her several times during the conversation. As irritating as he was proving to be his connections were too important to risk, so Kuvira faked the smile he wanted.

In the afternoon things seemed to be looking up and impressive recruitment numbers slightly improved her mood. Everything went wrong in the evening, though. The success Bolin had with building a rapport with community leaders in the Shun Province had been soured with news of scattered riots in the Zuihou, the very first region she had convinced to join her. It seemed like the only thing harder than getting people to join her movement was keeping them. The rejection of her leadership, of her, however slight, wounded her pride.

Alone in her office, she braced herself for the radio call with the local man she’d left in charge of Zuihou administration. She’d generously allowed him to keep his title of Governor and supported his people! The area had suffered greatly throughout the instability after the Earth Queen’s assassination and cowardly robbers had plundered it of food. Kuvira had provided what the old leadership could not; security and bread.

“President Kuvira, I don’t know what to tell you. The young people, they see you as an outsider. If only I had more power to respond to them personally. They know me, I-”

“That’s enough, Governor Lao.” she interrupted, “I trusted you to have the best interests of the people of Zuihou at heart. Was I incorrect to assume that you do?”

“What?” he questioned, “Of course not. I never meant to suggest-”

“Good. We’re on the same page, then, that we both want what is best for your people. Is starving what’s best for them? Riots in the streets?” Kuvira asked, trying to temper her rage at the man’s spinelessness. She was willing to do whatever needed to be done, whatever the cost. And she knew she had him trapped.

His voice shook when he responded. “No, President. That’s not what’s best.”

“Then I can only imagine you want to put down these riots as much as I do. You have my permission to use any force necessary.” She let her connotation hang in the air. This was not an option, or just permission. It was a command. “Is that clear?”

“Yes, it’s clear.”

“Wonderful. I’m glad we’ve got this all sorted then. Since we are both committed to this mission I will support you and your local troops with new recruits from several local regions. They were supposed to help stabilize their own communities but I will send them to Zuihou tomorrow.” 

When the Governor hesitated to respond she felt her anger rise again. How could he not see his lack of control was hurting his people? That letting them run amok was letting them harm themselves? What was not clear about the fact that he was hindering her progress into the Earth Kingdom, her progress on bringing her people together? Her way was the only way.

“You’re welcome, Governor,” she snapped. “I hope I won’t have to change my plans to support you again. I know how much the people of Zuihou need my help, I would hate to see us lose our relationship and give way to the demands of rioters. Wouldn’t you?”

“Please, Kuvira. Don’t abandon us,” he spoke quietly.

“I won’t.” She assured him. No matter what he, or any ridiculous protestors, were concerned. Nothing could stop her. “I will never rest until my whole Earth Kingdom is reunited.”

“Of course. And thank you. We will not have this problem again, I assure you.”

“Good.” She hung up the receiver. Two steps forward, one step back. She was angry, angry that people were not listening to her and that so much was out of her control. Trying to calm herself she felt the metal of the tracks in her toes, held body of her train in her fingertips. She felt it moving, hundreds of miles an hour. She knew they were making progress but the slow pace and the frustrating backsliding of the day grated at her nerves.

For some reason her mind made its way to dancing, remembering the way it felt to move her body to music, just to do it. She almost started to sway, to stretch her body and let it go somewhere artful and insignificant.

But reality came crashing back in. There was no time for pointless beauty, no room for feelings without direction. Kuvira liked dancing, but liking something was not important. She thought about when she was a teenager, about how dancing carelessly left her with a severe fracture. One imprecise movement and it was done, she’d known her foot was broken before she even hit the ground. She remembered the pain absently, but the horrible month she’d lost, unable to walk or dance or bend, was at the forefront. It was a feeling she never wanted again, trapped and useless.

She stalked out of her office, too frustrated to do anything else. Now she moved with purpose, into the residential car of the train but past her own room. She knocked on Julin’s door and stepped back to wait. 

They’d done this a few times now, Kuvira coming by Julin’s room late at night. Sometimes they would talk and sometimes they would work out other ways to let off steam. Kuvira respected Julin and enjoyed their conversations a great deal. They debated strategy on where to focus next for reunification, discussed the politics of the Fire Nation, and they both described the foods they missed from home in great detail. Despite how fond Kuvira was of those moments she had no interest in talking tonight.

It took Julin a minute to get to the door, and when she opened it she’d clearly been sleeping. She ran her hands through her tussled brown hair as she made her way back to consciousness. Kuvira watched her like prey, a little thrilled that Julin didn’t know what was coming as she stood in her doorway, wearing just a slip and a thin robe. 

“...‘vira? ‘s everything ok?” she murmured, blinking sleep out of her eyes.

Kuvira struggled to contain her energy, she felt like a live wire. “Can I come in?”

“Of course,” Julin backed up to let her through the doorway, finally starting to seem fully awake. “Do you want to talk?” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, indicating she was thinking. The way it reddened her lips broke the dam Kuvira had barely been holding back.

Kuvira closed the door behind her with a click. She wasn’t able to wait a second longer to get exactly what she wanted, for the first time all day. Without pausing she picked Julin up and tossed the younger woman bodily over her shoulder, easily holding her weight. Julin yelped in shock but the residential rooms were soundproof enough that Kuvira didn’t hold back. She bit into the meat of the Julin’s ass as she carried her, earning a sharp gasp.

She crossed the room to the Fire Nation woman’s bed in a few strides and dropped her onto her back on the mattress. She stood over her, enjoying the wide eyed look she was getting in response to her aggression. 

“I’ve had a long day. I wanted to come see you.” Kuvira admitted, trying to explain quickly. “Is this ok?”

Julin was awake now and her pupils were massive, only a tiny ring of color visible around them. She exhaled her answer, a “yes” that sounded almost as relieved as Kuvira felt to have permission.

Kuvira felt the anticipation coil in her gut, the rage she’d felt for the whole day just under the surface finally within her reach, where she could channel it. She moved suddenly then, crowding into the younger woman and pushing her back on the bed. 

She ran her hands up Julin’s thighs, following the smooth skin she found right up to the bottom of the slip. It was beautiful silk, soft and light blue, and she hated it for covering up the body she was so desperate to have her hands all over. She didn’t feel guilty at all when she grabbed it with both hands and tugged, ripping it past Julin’s navel.

Julin’s chest heaved, still partially covered by the remains of the slip. The Fire Nation woman spread her legs invitingly, distracting Kuvira from her single minded focus on destroying her clothes. She slid one of her legs between the younger woman’s, teasing her with light pressure. The brunette whined, grabbing Kuvira’s shoulders and grinding down onto her thigh. 

Kuvira let her, just for a moment, before holding Julin back with a hand around her throat and pulling her leg just out of reach.

“Cruel,” Julin accused as she caught her breath, “you’re such a tease”

Kuvira smirked down at her as she twitched, a little moth trapped in Kuvira’s web. “This alright?” 

“More than” Julin confirmed, “You’re so hot when you’re pissed off.”

The older woman responded by climbing over her and kissing her passionately, bracing herself just above Julin and licking into her mouth. Kuvira wanted to touch her, all of her, at all at once. She settled for lowering her ass onto Julin’s hips so she could bury one hand in wavy brown hair, gripping it tightly, while the other tweaked a pert nipple.

Julin matched Kuvira’s passion, their kiss bruising. She brought her hips up into Kuvira’s backside, trying to build friction. Kuvira bit the brunette’s bottom lip and held it between her teeth before pulling back to look at Julin’s flushed and dazed face.

Kuvira was suddenly desperate to be out of her clothes, to feel skin on her skin. She tore herself out of her uniform, needing to touch the woman below her too badly to be self conscious. She lowered herself down Julin’s body when she was finally free of her clothes. She sucked bruises onto her neck, nipping with her teeth, relishing the little moans she elicited. She bit the younger woman’s earlobe as she finished ripping the slip the rest of the way, both of them finally completely undressed.

“Hold still” she commanded in her best authoritative voice, trying not to sound completely wrecked. The brunette stilled immediately, amber eyes likes saucers. Kuvira dragged her fingers down Julin’s sternum and across her belly, feeling goosebumps in her wake. She brought her hand lower, touching Julin between her legs as lightly as she could. The younger woman’s thighs twitched, she kicked out trying to chase the sensation.  
“Impatient,” Kuvira chided, “you’re not following directions. I said to be still and I don’t like repeating myself.” She punctuated her words with her pointer finger circling Julin’s clit, teasing. She saw the fire in her eyes then, the exact moment Julin chose to ignore her.

Julin planted her feet on the bed to leverage herself up, her hips raising into Kuvira’s palm, purposefully disregarding what she’d been told. In a second Kuvira had her in an iron grip, one hand around her throat and one pulling her hair, forcing her to arch her neck back.

“I see.” Kuvira spoke the words as coldly as she could, the steel in her voice covering the excitement she felt. This should be fun, “You don’t want to listen. You’ve decided to be bad.”

Julin stared back at her wordlessly so the President jerked her hand, tugging the brown hair in her fist. Kuvira spoke over the hiss she’d brought out of the younger woman. “You’ll answer me when I speak to you, Julin. If you’re going to be bad, you’re going to be punished. Do you understand?”

The brunette’s head was forced so far back Kuvira could barely see it but the smile was there on her face when she spoke “Yes, Vira. I understand.”

“And you’ve chosen to be bad anyways?”

“Yes, madam President.” Julin laid the sarcasm on thick with the title, and the flood gates opened. Kuvira let go of her lover and flicked her wrists, cuffing the younger woman to the bed frame with metal plates. Kuvira laughed when she struggled comically, her slender arms not remotely capable of muscling herself out of the hold.

“It seems like you’ve made your choice, fully aware of the consequences.” Kuvira got up and headed into Julin’s closet, rummaging for a moment. She was ecstatic to find a practical tool to misuse- a ostrich horse riding crop. They didn’t actually have any animals on the train but most of the villages they visited relied on them for transportation.

With a wave of her hands the metal around Julin’s wrists flipped her, she was now laying on her stomach with her wrists trapped to her bed frame. Kuvira kneeled on the bed behind her as Julin got her knees under her, balancing herself on them. The older woman ran the riding crop along Julin’s thighs and heard her breath catch. Kuvira didn’t suppress her smile.

“I told you you’d be punished if you didn’t listen. This is what you chose, isn’t it?” Kuvira could feel how excited Julin was, how badly she wanted this too, but wanted to hear her say it.

“Yes, Vira” Kuvira snapped the crop on the outside of Julin’s right thigh, a warning. 

“Try that again,” she ordered. Julin said nothing, just shifted her weight from side to side. Well, if that was how she wanted to play it, Kuvira was more than game.

She only held back a little when she brought the crop down, striking Julin across the ass with it. She felt it punch the air out of the younger woman’s lungs. She ran her hand over the first mark on the outside of Julin’s thighs while she caught her breath.

Without warning she swung again, this time onto the backs of her thighs. Julin shuddered, inhaling sharply but exhaling a sigh. “What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?”

“Yes, Kuvira,” Julin answered, sounded absolutely wrecked. Kuvira was feeling close to that herself, she could feel how wet they both were.

“Better,” Kuvira praised, “Much better.” She ran the crop over Julin’s backside, admiring the pink stripes on her pale skin. Her ass normally looked incredible, but the additions Kuvira was painting on were truly remarkable. She told Julin as much.

“You look so good like this, ass all marked up and in the air when you’re cuffed to the bed. You’re getting more marked up. I want to see your gorgeous ass all red, maybe that will teach you to listen.”

“Maybe,” Julin responded, testing Kuvira’s thin patience.

The sound of the crop hitting skin cracked through the room. It felt how Kuvira felt: electric. Julin’s exhale was shaky this time so Kuvira gave her a minute, traced shapes between the freckles on her exposed skin.

“You’re so good, Julin. I know how badly you want to be good for me. Tell me you’ll be a good girl and we can finish your punishment. Then I’ll be able to make you feel better. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

“Yes” Julin choked out, “Please, Kuvira, please. I’m a good girl. I’ll be good”

“Good,” Kuvira praised, “So good for me. You’ll get three more and then you’re done. Does that sound fair?

“Yes, Kuvira. Thank you,” Julin agreed readily. Kuvira didn’t hesitate then, bringing down the crop three more times in rapid succession. Julin keened, knees almost falling out from underneath her. Kuvira tossed the crop off the bed and grabbed Julin by the hips to keep her upright. 

“Shh, good girl, you took them so well,” she ran her hands up and down her sides as she soothed her. Kuvira couldn’t remember the last time she’d done anything so hot, her body was aching with need, turned on beyond words. “Let me know when you’re ready to feel better. I’m going to make you come so hard.”

Julin whimpered in response to Kuvira’s words, spreading her knees now that she was stable enough to hold her own weight. The older woman admired her handiwork again, the beautiful, clean lines fading pink to red from Julin’s tailbone down to her thighs. The younger woman begged then, seeming desperate to let go of the little control she still held. “Please, Kuvira. I need to come, fuck I need-”

“Ok, shh, I’ll take care of you” Kuvira answered. She was way beyond teasing and it seemed like Julin was too. She laid down and got between Julin’s thighs, reaching up to run a finger through the wetness across the younger woman’s folds.

“Please,” Julin cried, her voice high and reedy. The black haired woman gently wrapped one hand around Julin’s thigh, avoiding the sensitive marks, and brought the other to her own aching clit. She licked into Julin, they were both incredibly wet already. She touched herself while she ate Julin out, feeling both of their thighs shaking with the sensation.

She focused her attention on Julin’s clit, wanting to give her the release she’d more than earned. She sucked on Julin as she reached the aching center between her own legs, so close to coming herself.

Julin was moaning loudly now, riding Kuvira’s face and grinding down as hard as she could with her hands still trapped to the bedframe. Her hips started to stutter as she reached the edge and Kuvira doubled down her efforts. “Fuck, Vira” she choked out, “I’m gonna come”

Kuvira loved how her voice sounded, the way her lover said her name. She gripped Julin as hard as she could and tongued her clit, feeling Julin’s thighs trembling around her head. The younger woman came with a shout, her legs locking and giving out. Her hips twitched as she rode her orgasm out on Kuvira’s face.

She finally collapsed and Kuvira snaked out from under her, finishing herself as Julin came back to her body. She ran one hand over the younger woman’s ass while she touched herself, finally peaking and feeling the tension drain out of her with the hard earned orgasm. She choked on Julin’s name as she came but covered it with a groan. If her lover noticed she didn’t react.

The metalbender released the cuffs then, flicking her wrist to slide the metal plates back into the body of her uniform. She touched Julin’s wrists to examine them, checking for any possible injury. “How do you feel?”

“Like I got hit by a train,” the younger woman responded. Kuvira’s eyebrows shot up, concerned, but the younger woman elaborated “If getting hit by a train was the best thing that could happen to you, I guess? That was amazing.” The President smirked, relieved.

“I really needed that.” Kuvira tried not to glower or let herself backslide but she could feel reality creeping back in. Letting the tension out had been critical but it hadn’t solved any of the problems she’d been carrying before coming to Julin’s room. 

Kuvira started to get dressed again, as awareness came back she felt more uncomfortable, more vulnerable in her nakedness. Julin sat in the bed, wrapped up in her sheets. Once Kuvira was presentable she leaned in and kissed the Fire Nation woman on the lips chastely. To say thank you and goodnight. She hoped it expressed those thoughts when she otherwise couldn’t.

At their briefing in the morning she noticed Julin shifting her weight a great deal, almost like she couldn’t sit comfortably. She let herself puff her chest out, just a little, and she covered her laugh with a cough when she overheard Bolin ask the brunette if she was alright. Julin didn’t seem to be too hindered by her condition, though, and made several great points in the meeting. Kuvira was glad, really glad, that Julin was there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!! I had fun writing this, there are so many Kuvira fantasies I want to explore and get right. I hope you like it! Also, friendly reminder that this Kuvira is not a reliable narrator. She's not seeing things with a lot of perspective. As always, let me know what you think!! xoxo


	8. The Speech

| Julin |

She always woke up alone, no matter what. Early morning light filtered through her window but the bed beside her was cold, Kuvira had been gone for a while. She was mildly disappointed, they had actually made plans to see each other the night before. That felt like it meant something, more than all the spontaneous hook ups had, at least. Apparently, she’d been wrong.

They’d been doing this for months now, seeing each other in a strange not secret yet not public way. The train felt somehow on its own clock, like the flow of time was going just a little differently outside their metal walls. Julin dragged her feet as she slowly got dressed. If they made good time today they’d arrive at their newest destination, Xiao, a small state in the south, by the early afternoon. 

She was one of the first people at their desk that morning, settling into the old rhythm of her work. The words flowed naturally from the tip of her pen, the surety in them quieting the confusion that had been trying to creep in as of late. Writing was about finding the silver lining, nurturing it into a much larger message and sharing it with people. It was about hope.

The speech she was currently working on was one of her better ones. She could hear what she wrote now, in Kuvira’s voice, despite never having watched her deliver a speech to an actual crowd. They’d gone over them together and she’d overheard her practicing once. She knew which words would flow off of the President’s tongue, what diction would soften her rough exterior, the word play that would express her cunning without seeming too erudite. It felt good to know what she was doing, to be good at it.

When Bolin sauntered by a few hours later she let him read over her latest draft. He was a surprisingly good editor and a great test audience. Could she sway him, make him feel inspired by her words despite having been on the job for almost six months now?

He laughed out loud at the one joked she hadn’t edited out. “Seriously, Jules? “Our great nation, with a future so bright even a badgermole could see it,” he chuckled, “Can you imagine Kuvira saying this? Delivering a one-liner and holding for laughter?”

“Yes, I actually can! Badgermoles are topical!” Julin defended her writing. Or was she defending Kuvira? “You’re underestimating her. She’s much funnier than she lets on initially.”

“Come on,” the lavabender teased, “I’ve never even seen her smile- actually, that’s not true. She smiled when three states joined us in one day, and also when Baatar fell off the train. But that hardly counts, everybody else was actually laughing and I almost peed my pants it was so funny. I’ve definitely never seen her laugh!”

“Laughing isn’t the same is being funny. You laugh all the time and you’re never funny!”

Bolin mimed being stabbed in the heart and dramatically fell off the ledge of Julin’s desk where he’d been perched. “Woman! You wound me!”

Julin laughed at his theatrics but circled him back to continue getting his help on the speech. “Ok, ok, I think you’ll live” she teased, “and some of us actually have work to do while we’re traveling. Be honest, any edits? Do you think I should cut the joke?”

“Hey, I trust you! You’re the communications guru. If you’ve seen her be funny I’ll take your word for it.”

“Maybe you just have to catch her at the right time?”

His eyebrows shot up at that. “Oh really? What’s the right time for the interim President of the Earth Kingdom to try her hand at stand up comedy?”

Julin exhaled and tried to come up with an answer. “Honestly? It hasn’t been the right time for a couple of weeks. I thought she’d relax when we connected more of the Earth Kingdom but now that we’re almost half way there she just seems more tense.”

“Things have been stressful for everybody recently, I know I’ve been feeling it. This is a tough job. I’m sure getting through these next couple of stops will help. This is a really good draft, Julin. I’m sure she’ll like it.”

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah! You’re killing it, man! You should be really proud of yourself.”

“Thank you, Bolin. It means a lot.” Julin appreciated the reassurance. She’d been proud of her work but writing is so subjective, she sometimes worried others wouldn’t understand what she was getting at. Bolin’s confidence in her abilities was a welcome reminder that other people liked what she had to say and how she said it.

She looked up and met his bright green eyes, surprisingly intense for such a carefree man. “How have you been holding up, Julin?”

“Oh, you know,” she laughed, but he didn’t respond. The silence held for just a moment too long and she felt compelled to fill it. “I’m ok. I work a lot. It’s so important and I’m really grateful to be doing it. I guess being behind the scenes can be hard when you’re a couple of steps removed from the people we’re helping”

Bolin nodded but still didn’t speak, leaving Julin to keep explaining. She tried changing strategies to get the attention off of herself, “Do you ever feel like there’s a film, or like a layer, between the train and everything else? Like even when I step off of it I’m just not quite in it, wherever we are?”

He sat on her desk again as he mulled over her question. “Maybe a bit, yeah? I feel like I’m doing more hands on stuff than you, talking to people in the villages and handing out supplies, you know? That always feels really good.”

That hadn’t been exactly what Julin meant; she felt out of step even in villages and with people, almost like there was something she was supposed to be saying that she couldn’t put into words. She hated that feeling. But maybe Bolin was right, what she needed to do was buy in more.

“That’s a really good point, thank you. And thank you again for your help on the speech. I’m going to go see if Kuvira is free to look it over.”

“Anytime, Julin!”

She picked up her papers and had just passed through the doorway when she thought she heard Bolin call after her. She poked her head back into the workspace, asking “Did you say my name?”

“Yes, I did! I thought of another time Kuvira smiles. They’re really small smiles, maybe smirks are a better word? Anyway, she does them, sometimes, when she’s looking at you.”

“Oh! I uh- hmm!” Without ever actually finishing a word Julin turned back into the hallway as quickly as she could, she could feel her cheeks flaming. She hated how she’d flush so easily, her pale skin making it impossible to keep secret how she felt.

As if on cue, while she hurried down the hall to find somewhere private to have her face burning, she bumped in to Kuvira leaving her private conference room.

“Madam President,” Julin bowed her head respectfully, still clutching her draft to her chest. Almost plowing over the interim President of the Earth Kingdom/her occasional lover only had her cheeks burning brighter.

“Well don’t you look scandalized. Are you sure you don’t bend because your face is on fire.” Kuvira’s tone was completely dry, the only way she ever attempted humor.

“I told Bolin you told jokes!” Julin said a little too loudly.

“And he didn’t believe you?” a little smile, one of the smirks he’d been referring to, snuck onto Kuvira’s face as she spoke.

“Not even a little. I have one in your speech, if you’re game. That’s why we were talking about it. I was just coming by with the most recent draft for you to edit.”

“Great, let’s go over it in my office.”

Julin’s mind drifted back to the last time she’d been in Kuvira’s office. They’d fucked on her desk, hot and hurriedly, between meetings. She wondered if it was even physically possible for her to blush any harder than she was right now. They didn’t have time for anything like that today, though, so she composed herself as best she could as they walked into the office.

She sat across from the metalbender and handed her the neatly typed speech, ready for edits. Kuvira licked her finger and started to thumb through the pages, not looking with as much attention as Julin maybe would have liked.

“Guan has some experience with this region so we went over some dialectical details, all subject to your approval,” Julin tried, hoping to slow Kuvira down a little as she kept flipping pages. The older woman just hummed in response.

“And I’ll just need the specifics for some of the reunification commitments. The aid package numbers, how much food and when they can start to expect it from you or someone in the transport department.”

“I’m sure your guesses are fine.” Kuvira dismissed.

“No, none of these have been confirmed by anyone. If you or Baatar get me the details I can update it with plenty of time.”

“I said it was fine.” Kuvira’s tone was clipped, but Julin was determined. Surely she didn’t understand, these were more than just words, they were commitments to the citizens of Xiao. What she said mattered, and not just for building credibility with the population.

“Kuvira, these numbers could be way off. I don’t want to promise anything we can’t-”

“Enough, Julin. It doesn’t matter if they’re way off. I’ll say whatever I need to and then we’ll make whatever we can happen. We’ll do the best we can regardless, it makes no difference.”

“What?” Julin was more than a little startled. “Of course it matters what you say, Kuvira. These are promises to these people. I can just put in the accurate information and-”

“I thought I told you to DROP it!” Kuvira slammed her hands onto her desk and stood. She’d never raised her voice at Julin before and the Fire Nation woman had no idea how to respond. “What do you want me to say? That I’m not sure when the next supply train will be free? That I can’t control bad rainfall and shitty harvests and rebellions? Huh?”

Julin looked at her hands as Kuvira continued, reading directly from Julin’s writing now. “We both know “trains will come biweekly with food and other supplies” sounds much better than “hell if I know but join me anyways”. I am the President and I won’t stand in front of my people looking like a fool without any information. So unless you can fix all the problems I’m working on right now that actually fucking matter I’d suggest you get comfortable with a little embellishing here and there.”

Still looking down she nodded, completely unable to look at Kuvira right now. It was so much more than just a train schedule. It was the commitments Kuvira and her team were making to these people to help them, people who needed them. She had no idea what had changed from the young woman in the hallway, soft smiles and teasing, to the one before her but she was almost scared of the person she was now facing. 

“It’s your speech and I know you have final call to say whatever you’re comfortable with. I’ll leave you with the draft.” Julin stood, bowed and offered the most respectful “madam President” she could muster on her way out. She was way too upset to go back to her very public work space and she had nothing to work on since Kuvira didn’t want edits anyways. She wandered back to her room.

She hadn’t known crops had been failing, she hadn’t thought to ask. She didn’t know there were rebellions against the reunification either. She understood that Kuvira was stretched thin and that sometimes promises fail. But to lie, outright? To know what you’re telling people who have no choice but to trust you is not correct? That’s not artistic license, it’s wrong.

She lay on her bed for hours, stuck in a loop in her brain. Had she not explained something correctly? Was Kuvira just not understanding her? Or was she actually willing to lie? If she was willing to lie about these commitments where was the line? Was there anything she wouldn’t say if she thought it would get people on her side? The more she thought about it the worse she felt. She was deeply confused and a little sick to her stomach by the time the train started to slow, preparing to pull into the station.

A small crowd was visible from her window, waving dark green flags and smiling. More people still stood behind them, looking unsure. They were more than that though, they looked guarded but vulnerable and sad and hungry. They looked desperate.

Julin brushed her uniform back into place and prepared to get off the train. She exited from one of the secondary doors quickly, wanting to make her way into the crowd as much as she could before everything started. She didn’t blend in, she was far too polished in her army green and metal dress, but she was able to see what everyone else did from just outside a small tea shop.

The governor of the Xiao Province stood in front of the main door of the train as Kuvira exited. The sight of her took Julin’s breath away. Silhouetted by her army and glittering train, she looked like a marvel. The President, flanked by Baatar and a few other members of her inner circle, waved to the people gathered before her. Other members of her team moved into the crowd, shaking hands and shmoozing anyone who looked like they had authority. Kuvira and the governor went back on the train, presumably to discuss the terms of Xiao joining her.

Julin went into the tea shop while she waited for the leaders to finish their conversation. She blinked at the menu, almost unable to believe how inexpensive everything was, less than half of what she would have paid in Ba Sing Se. She bought a cup of chamomile and tipped well.

“How have things been around here recently?” she asked the bored looking teenager behind the counter.

“I mean, the same. There’s nothing to do and nothing ever changes. The day I turn eighteen I’m getting out of here, going to a real city.”

“You’re not sentimental about home?” she asked, genuinely curious. Sometimes she was so homesick for the Fire Nation she could feel it missing from her body like a literal hole.

“There’s nothing for me here. Nothing for anyone here, really.”

“Do you think Kuvira or reunification could change anything?”

“Maybe.”

Julin nodded and thanked him for the tea. She headed back outside to people watch, looking at the anxious crowd milling about and waiting for their leaders to come and address them. The dust from the trampled down main road swirled in the air, making everything look faintly brown.

What were these people expected to do? Say no to Kuvira? What power would they have to hold her accountable if the trains didn’t come? If anything else went wrong? Julin chewed on her lip, really starting to spiral. She saw Bolin standing with an old woman, head tossed back in laughter. What did it mean to be honest, to do right by people? She knew Bolin had the best interests of others at heart. She believed Kuvira did too, but was she comfortable with everything Kuvira was? Did the ends really justify the means?

Right at that moment the President walked off the train and made a big gesture of shaking hands with the governor. The crowd in the front cheered while everyone else shifted their weight. Technically, Julin wasn’t supposed to hear Kuvira deliver the speeches, the metalbender hadn’t wanted her to get “too comfortable” with a particular style or wedded to any of her writing.

Julin stayed. She needed to hear what Kuvira had to say. While a large banner was rolled out behind her and Bolin’s team started to distribute supplies the metalbender began.

“It is an honor to be speaking to you, the noble people of Xiao. I am elated to announce that your governor and I have come to an agreement and that the great state of Xiao will be rejoining the Earth Kingdom under my leadership.”

She spoke with such confidence and intention. She never slipped, even when Julin could tell she’d forgotten what the speech said word for word. It was so easy to believe her, that this powerful, beautiful woman would help, would change things. She felt her heart soften the slightest bit.

The crowd loved her too, even those scattered in the back laughed when the President sheepishly told the joke. She’d moved it to follow right after a particularly harsh section about bringing bandits to heel, softening her casual brutality. It was brilliant, Julin was a little mad she hadn’t thought of herself. It worked, it all worked so easily. The speech ended with resounding applause and cheers of ‘All Hail the Great Uniter’.

She ducked back onto the train before Kuvira finished waving to the crowd, pretty sure she hadn’t been noticed. Later, from her window, she saw the boy from the tea shop lining up with one of the army recruiters. She remembered his resigned demeanor and disdain. The army didn’t seem like the solution, but what alternatives did he have?

What alternatives did the Earth Kingdom have, remain in chaos? What alternatives did she have, let Kuvira push every envelope she wanted? It was all bitter and sweet and confusing and Julin felt like she’d been moved all around like a tile on a Pai Sho board all day. Not everyone had a choice, but Julin had much more of one than the boy from the tea shop.

Done with waiting around she went to Kuvira’s room that night, knocking on her door with as much authority as she could. They had a lot to talk about. When Kuvira opened it she didn’t seem surprised to see Julin standing there, stepping back to let the younger woman in.

“I won’t apologize for anything.” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I have to make tough calls all day every day. If you think you get to be exempt from that then you’re wrong.”

“Vira, that’s not why I’m here or what I’m upset about. I expect to be treated like you’d treat others professionally. You and I work together, like anybody else on your staff, and I know disagreements are a part of that. I’m a big girl, I can handle being yelled at.”

“This is a professional visit, then? To my room at midnight?”

“No, I just wanted to come talk to you about everything. I know it’s a little complicated but I feel like we can get to the bottom of this, just us.”

“Well I don’t know what gave you the impression the rest of my staff comes here late at night but you were also mistaken about that. If this is a professional meeting then you can schedule an appointment at an appropriate time to talk to me in my office in the next few days.” Kuvira’s eyes were burning and Julin had to make sure her mouth was clamped all the way shut. What the hell was going on?

“Fine, Kuvira. Have it your way. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight.” She was angry and confused and hurt. The door closed behind her with force and Julin went back to her room to figure out how so much could change in one day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to a little bit of a rough patch. Kuvira is willing to do anything to get her way and Julin realizing that isn't fun for anyone. Please comment any feedback and see you all soon!! <3


	9. The Fracture

| Kuvira |

She woke up the next day still as enraged as she’d been the night before. It was much easier to feel angry than to feel hurt or stupid and she was anything but stupid.

It wasn’t clear to her where she’d lost the thread, she and Julin had seemed to split off so suddenly. She pictured it like a spool, here then gone in one moment, slipped out of her grasp, rolling away faster than she could catch up to it. She backtracked, desperate to piece everything together in an order she could understand. She’d thought that Julin was with her, on the same page. Apparently, she’d been wrong.

How could the younger woman be so blind? How could she not see that they had been making sacrifices, compromises, every day, since the beginning? Did she think that she got to keep herself above the fray, to ride coattails while Kuvira had to roll up her sleeves and do all the hard work? She thought she could sit on her high horse and question the President?

Kuvira used to think that they had been a team, that they understood each other and had each other’s backs. She thought that maybe their relationship meant something. But Julin wasn’t there with her, was too busy looking down her nose at Kuvira for doing what had to be done.

It had to be done, didn’t it? There was no other way? She had to move fast and any sign of weakness would leave everything in shambles. She would lose the power she’d worked so hard for. She’d clawed and climbed her way to the top, how could she throw it away, let anything compromise her? She couldn’t let herself feel any doubt or others would start to doubt her too.

So she quashed it, the sadness and confusion and pain and smoothed over it like it had never been there. She schooled her face into a mask, stoicism was essential to being respected and taken seriously. She would never, ever, make the mistake of letting someone get under her skin like this again. She would double down if she had to, she’d show everyone exactly what she was capable of.

She was ready for war, whether anyone else wanted one or not. She walked into her conference room head held high and intentionally five minutes late to the meeting. Everyone stood and watched her as she made her way to the head of the table. She sat and held on to the focus for a few more seconds, reveling in the complete attention she was commanding, then finally called the meeting to order with a stern “Let’s begin.”

General Lun went first, young and eager to impress. “Madam President, I’m happy to report that the North West Region is more stable than it has ever been. Dissent is down and there haven’t been any public protests in two weeks. We feel confident that the region has been permanently secured in reunification and we are continuing to seek out the stray rebels and bringing them to justice. I’d like to get back there as soon as possible to assist on that endeavor”

Kuvira listened to his words but she only watched Julin’s face. The brunette was practically hiding behind Bolin, leaning back in her chair. From what she could see, Julin’s face twisted as Lun spoke, looking concerned, but she didn’t speak. Kuvira felt her eyes narrow, frustrated by the cowardice, but she returned her attention to Lun.

“Thank you General. I am pleased to hear it. We will arrange your transport back to the North as soon as possible. Next?”

Bolin piped up then, leaning forward and unintentionally blocking Julin from Kuvira’s line of sight. “I have some ideas for the best way for us to approach the Governor of Kun, we’re scheduled to meet with him in a few days. He seems like a good guy but maybe a tough cookie. He’ll want the grand history of his region respected, so you and I should go over those points.”

“Of course, schedule a meeting with my secretary for sometime tomorrow.”

Julin spoke from behind Bolin’s large frame, leaning over his shoulder to speak. “Communications has nothing to report today.” Kuvira nodded and looked to Baatar, seated on the Fire Nation woman’s left. He wordlessly gestured to Varrick, who literally jumped on the conference table before they began their presentation.

The two scientists demonstrated some promising data they had gathered about applications of spirit vines in modern technology and various methods of integrating the two. Kuvira probably would have been very excited about it if she hadn’t spent the whole time trying to figure out what the pinch in Julin’s eyebrows meant exactly.

General Jong looked somber when he began to speak, forcing Kuvira to refocus, bracing herself for bad news. “Madam President, we’re still having the same issue with the Chin Province. All peaceful negotiations have failed, Governor Hao will not agree to reunification.”

Kuvira looked on, frustrated. She remembered the last time she’d talked to that petulant man, on the night she’d met Julin, and it made her hate him all the more. “What does our position in the region look like?”

“Everything else is stable, Commander, and highly fortified.” Jong explained as he gestured to the map, one little lime colored state surrounded by a sea of Kuvira’s own forest green. “Chin is the only holdout. And, there’s one more thing, madam President. It’s slightly indelicate.”

“Out with it,” she ordered, having no patience for the posturing.

Jong pulled out a piece of paper and slipped on glasses, fumbling slightly. “In his most recent communication with your representatives, Great Uniter, Governor Hao told them that, and I quote, “If that little bitch wants Chin she can come here and pry it out of my cold, dead hands herself.”

The room was dead silent, it seemed like nobody was even breathing. Kuvira laughed then, at everyone’s terrified reaction and at Hao’s misplaced and unearned bravado. It was almost a relief, being told to her face what she knew people were saying behind her back. They doubted her power, her ruthlessness. They didn’t think she was capable of going to any length to keep order, to keep her position. They were all wrong. She had the stomach for it, no longer burdened by the pretense of niceties or gentleness. She was free to do whatever she wanted, and what she wanted was blood.

“Then so be it. Baatar, let the conductor know we’ll be splitting the train at the next junction. Lun, you and your team will head back West to root out dissenters. Everyone else, we’ll be heading South, to Chin. We will take the region by force and I will not leave until the state is ours and Hao is silenced, permanently.”

Her announcement was met with mixed reactions, but the most vocal were the agreeing cheers and scattered clapping. Varrick and Zhu Li looked uninterested and Bolin looked a little apprehensive. Once it was quiet enough for her to be heard, Julin spoke.

“Kuvira, please don’t do this.” The residual excited noise of the room petered out, half the room looking at Julin and the other half at Kuvira.

“Please, enlighten us then, as to your plan to incorporate the Chin Province?”

She could see the moment Julin decided to stand her ground to Kuvira in front of everyone. “Kuvira, this is obviously a complicated situation. I know that you’re angry-”

Kuvira stood as she interrupted, placing her hands flat on the table. “First of all, you are to use an appropriate title to address me. Secondly, if you want to imply that my emotions are getting in the way of my decision making, you could not be more wrong. I will never back down on what’s best for my kingdom, no matter who is uncomfortable. Is that clear?”

It was mostly a show for everyone else, who looked thoroughly intimidated, but Julin was staring right back at her and not backing down. There was no need for an audience for the rest of this.

“Everyone else, out. Get back to work, we have a battle to prepare for.” The rest of her staff shuffled out of the room but neither the President or her lover- former lover?- were looking. Kuvira stared into tense but unflinching amber eyes and resolved to not bend an inch.

She understood there were other ways to approach the situation with Chin. She wasn’t even really grated by what Hao had to say, he was a little man trying to compensate for his own mediocrity and he couldn’t touch her. But what Julin and everyone else working to undermine her needed was a show of force. Her decisions were final and she would not be so easily intimidated out of them.

“How dare you,” she hissed at the younger woman once they were alone. “How dare you speak to me like that, how dare you challenge me and my decisions.”

“You are on the wrong side of this one,” Julin began, “I had to say something. This is a rash decision.”

“We’ve been considering a variety of options in Chin for a long time” Kuvira countered, steeling her voice. “I can’t allow a public insult to stand and I can’t allow exceptions to reunification. You know this.”

“You expect me to believe you give a shit about Governer Hao says about you? We both know he’s a nobody. I’m coming to you as a friend, as someone who really cares about you, please reconsider!” Kuvira tried not to rear back like she’d been slapped at the words. The whiplash she felt, the constant switching from professional adversaries to quarreling lovers, made her feel seasick and unsure of herself. She hated feeling that way, ignored it in favor of being angry. 

“You seem to have decided you’re better than the rest of us, who live in the real world, but I know who I am. I know where I belong. It’s fighting, tooth and nail, for my people. Sometimes that means literally. I don’t care that it’s not what you would do, you’re not in my shoes for a reason.”

“This would be a war of aggression, it would cost the lives of Earth Kingdom citizens on both sides.”

“I didn’t say it wouldn’t, Julin. Making sacrifices for one’s country are the most honorable and important things we can do in our lives. I was given a mission, to reunify my people. To lead them. Nothing will stop me.”

“You would be an invader!”

“Oh really, Fire Nation? That’s rich.”

Julin narrowed her eyes but didn’t rise to the bait. “That has nothing to do with this. You know how much I care about the Earth Kingdom.”

“So I’m just supposed to let Hao do whatever he wants? You’d have me block our aid and efforts for the people of Chin? Abandon them?”

“No of course not, Vira-”

“Do NOT call me that!” She yelled, irrationally angry at the way the nickname still sounded so beautiful in Julin’s mouth.

“You’re just replacing Hao’s strong will with yours! What is the urgency with Chin? There’s more than enough for us to do with the regions that are already committed to reunification. The rebels in the North West?”

“Those traitors will be dealt with in turn,” Kuvira spat. Obviously there was more than one area her attention could be focused, but she was determined to show the world nobody would tell her no. She would have Chin, it was hers.

“But, madam President,” Julin tried, sounding desperate, “don’t you care what they’re rebelling against? What they have to say? We were met with open arms in the North West when we first got there. Clearly something has changed since we left, promises we made that we aren’t following up on. We can listen and learn how to fix it!”

“Clearly you have no shortage of complaints about my leadership and would just like to enumerate perceived failings.”

“That’s not true at all, you're not listening to me. Attacking Chin unprovoked is a mistake.”

“I’ve listened plenty, in fact, I think I’ve entertained this for too long. This conversation is not productive. We both have work to do and I’m done entertaining your nonsensical complaints.” Kuvira turned her back on the younger woman, staring at the large map on her fall, full of blank states she was yet to reconnect. “Go do something useful with your time, Julin.”

Silence followed, too still for Julin to be moving at all. Kuvira turned to yell at the brunette to leave but the tears welling in her amber eyes cut the President off, catching her off guard.

“You don’t understand,” Julin started, voice shaking but only a little. “I can’t watch you do this. If you do this- if you attack Chin, I can’t stay. I can’t be a part of it.”

Kuvira froze, awestruck. She understood what Julin is saying but also didn’t. She’d leave? She’d abandon Kuvira over this? “You’re giving me an ultimatum?”

A tear escaped and Julin hurriedly brushed it away. She was clearly trying to school her face but failing, her bottom lip trembling. “I know I can’t stop you, if it’s not what you want. But please, don’t want this, don’t do this, don’t go down this path.”

Kuvira hoped her face wasn’t betraying how hurt she was. Somehow, when push came to shove, everyone always left her. She was punished, consistently, for being strong. Her parents, Su Beifong, Julin, everyone she cared about in the slightest failed her. Chickened out, left at the slightest sign of trouble. It was hard, being the only one able to weather a storm, but this seemed to be her burden.

“And if I want this path? If it’s my destiny?”

“But it’s not, Kuvira, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. You could do this the right way, the Earth Kingdom needs you. But it needs you the right way.”

“There is only one way.” Kuvira knew it in her bones, no matter how hard the road, this was the way for her. She put venom into her words, spoke with the intention to hurt. “If you’re too weak to help me do what needs to be done then so be it. Stop trying to drag me down with you and get off. my. train.”

Julin’s face crumpled, she looked utterly defeated. Good. Kuvira had too much on her shoulders to be someone for Julin to cry to about the real world. The real world was horrible and twisted and Kuvira needed to fix it, apparently by herself.

She was wounded, deeply, by Julin’s betrayal. She felt it bruising around her heart already, she felt tender and raw and exposed like a nerve. The pain would slow her down, suffocate her if she let it. It would work cracks into her resolve, her foundation. It would try to make her put something imaginary and fantastical like morality before prioritizing herself and her leadership. 

So she got mad, again, instead. She wore the anger, could tell it was visible. She shrugged back into it like an old jacket. It fit onto her shoulders like the metal of her uniform, formed onto her hands like her gloves, protecting her just the same. She was safe behind her wall of fire.

“You can take the train with Lun, back West. We’ll be reaching the junction in about half an hour. I’d suggest you start packing unless you’d like me to figure out somewhere else to send you that’s out of my sight.” She made the threat clear, too raw for anything subtle.

Julin stood there, dumbstruck or something, a few more tears rolling down her cheeks. Kuvira couldn’t stand to look at her, the way it made her feel like she’d been stabbed in the stomach. She realized part of what she was feeling was terror, that she would never see Julin again or that she would see her again when she wasn’t ready.

She ignored it as best she could and marched out of the room, not letting herself look back even once. She went to her office and sat at her desk, stared at the chair where Julin had sat the day before, all self righteous and sure of herself. She absently thought it was amazing foresight she’d made sure her office would have ownership over all the speeches, so at least she hadn’t lost those too.

She laughed wetly at the thought, suddenly aware her throat was thick with tears. It was foolish sentiment, misplaced. She’d made her choice and was sure it was the right one, the fastest way to reuniting the Earth Kingdom would inevitably include force.

It was exciting, the idea of fighting again. She loved to fight, she was brilliant at it. A prodigy, naturally gifted, of course, but also gruelling hours of training had left her skills close to perfect. She would be ready for the fight in Chin. To reunite people and put Hao in his place would be a necessary and joyus victory- even if it cost her Julin.

She was still, feeling more than hearing the train slow down and be split. The process only took a few minutes. Kuvira imagined herself like an animal in a trap, chewing off her own leg to escape. It hurt and was not pretty, but she would do whatever it took to survive. To keep moving. They began again, Southward, and she felt lighter already without the weight of a simple, weak girl’s judgement. 

What this had revealed to her was that her brutality was not a flaw, it was a strength. One that people had and would continue to underestimate. Maybe it was because she was a woman. Maybe it was because she was beautiful. The reason did not matter. It made clear to her that she had the flexibility to do much more, ferocious and unapologetic, than she had been doing before.

If people were going to think the worst of her she would not stop holding herself back. It was time to put herself and her Kingdom before everything else much more liberally, righteousness be damned. It wasn’t more than a few hours before Baatar walked in to her office with more than one opportunity to be cold hearted and strategic. He put his hand on her shoulder, an attempt to demonstrate their “closeness”.

“I can’t believe that idiot girl.” He bemoaned, “She really was a child, I don’t know what they teach at Fire Nation schools but clearly it’s nothing but foolishness.”

Kuvira smiled at the sympathy and Baatar lit up, his eyes almost sparkled he was so taken by her. It became clear, then, that Kuvira had only been scratching the very surface of what she could leverage for herself through his affection for her.

“Thank you, Baatar. I’m only sad that we wasted time with her for such a long time.”

“I agree, completely, Kuvs.” She resisted the urge to gag at the nickname and forced another smile onto her face. When she took his hand from her shoulder and laced their fingers together he looked like he couldn’t believe it. This was her moment.

“Baatar, I was thinking about an idea we’d scrapped earlier. It’s so sad when people who have the potential to be of great service to our nation fail. A waste.”

“Yeah, yes!” The idiot babbled.

“Do you still have the designs for those reeducation camps you’d made?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! Reminder that Kuvira is an especially unreliable narrator and to not take her at her word. I hope you enjoy this chapter, big things are coming up for these two


	10. Julin Alone

| Julin |

Julin didn’t know how she could be so sure of herself and so confused at the same time. She knew she’d made the right call to put her foot down and leave. It was everything before that she was struggling to make sense of.

Seeing what Kuvira had become in order to be the ‘Great Uniter’ terrified her. The only thing that scared her more was the nagging thought that maybe Kuvira had always been that way. The President was cunning and driven and ambitious but it was more than that. Julin couldn’t stop picking at the scab of her own willful ignorance, the times she’d overlooked skeletons in the closet and cracks in the foundation.

The feeling that she’d made all the same mistakes as Kuvira, trusting her so blindly, shook her. She didn’t think she could trust herself anymore. Kuvira had never lied about her willingness to do anything to reconnect the Earth Kingdom. But Julin couldn’t possibly have guessed how far that Kuvira would have already gone, or how far she might go. Or could she have? Shouldn’t she have known? How could she not have? 

The questions forced a mirror into Julin’s face, demanding she ask herself just how far she herself had already gone before quitting. She needed to ask them of herself but that didn’t lessen how much they hurt. Julin tried appreciate them for the fever she knew they were, burning through her but helping her sweat out all of the bad she needed to be rid of. 

And like ink bleeding, Julin couldn’t keep separate Kuvira the President and Kuvira the person. They overlapped in so many ways and yet were so different. Julin sometimes hated them both but mostly she hated herself for having gone from caring about the politician to the person so easily. She was seasick trying to keep track of all the parts, crashing against her in waves.

Dark green eyes, soft and then flashing with anger. Strong hands, touching her gently but suddenly clenched into fists. Dogged determination, earnest pride and fruitful bluntness inspiring and terrifying her. She could never tell which Kuvira she was picturing. They were both so flawed, so wrong, anyways. Julin worried that they were also both too far to reach, to bring back. 

It made her blood run cold to know she had a hand in the wrongs Kuvira had committed while she’d worked for her. She’d probably never know the extent of them, having picked up on the writing on the wall so late into her time on the train. Not even leaving was enough, she’d enabled the future of the metalbender and all the consequences that came with that.

One thing, though, was clear. So glaringly obvious that the joke she had given Kuvira came to mind- ‘even a badgermole could see it’. The words tasted like ash in her mouth now. Julin was through with this world, with the politics and lies and cutthroat horrible things. She’d washed her hands of it, even though she knew there would always be blood on them in one way or another, and decided to never look back.

Ba Sing Se was about as figuratively backwards as she could move so she refused to fall back into that old, comfortable rhythm. Even if she could have returned to her old job she would never work for a world leader again now that she had seen behind the curtain. She had felt, first hand, how thin the line between leading and ruling often was. Either the power had gotten to Kuvira or Kuvira had gotten to the power and Julin had lost all faith. 

She had few options and even less of a plan when she finally made it to Republic City. It was glittering and novel in a way that the tangible ancientness of Ba Sing Se wasn’t, the perfect place for a fresh start. Being alone was suddenly completely freeing.

So she made a life for herself, this new Julin. She got to know her, slowly and cautiously, trying something new whenever she had the chance. She learned that she liked eating Water Tribe takeout on the floor by herself and that she couldn’t be trusted with candles after a few too many close calls with her curtains. 

She walked everywhere and tried never to rush or schedule herself too much. She’d never taken the time to wander before and it made her happy to do it now, always stumbling on something small she’d have missed if she’d been flying by on a train.

The time flew by as she settled into her new routine and got used to herself. It took much longer than she thought it would to start to feel normal again, the same old wounds kept flaring up. But after months of practice she was getting good at looking through the fog of her past and self doubt to find her way forward.

She took a job as an editor for a trashy newspaper, The City Sun. They wouldn’t be winning any journalism awards, she mostly worked on articles about reported sightings of the Avatar and gossip about President Raiko’s marriage. It wasn’t anything to write home about but she got the job without any references and it paid for her apartment. On clear days she could see Air Temple Island out her window.

Her coworkers were nice, if a bit airheaded. Their fights over who had the best scoop on the mover star Ginger’s new beau were amusing and endearing. Her favorite writer, Adisa, was also the most determined to pick at Julin for gossip about Kuvira, always looking for her next story, no matter how flimsy.

“I mean, you worked for a mystery woman! We don’t have anything on her and I know people would just eat that shit up. I can see the headlines now!” She pitched her voice to her best newsie impression, “Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The Great Uniter’s Great Secret! Shocking Details About Earth Kingdom President’s Scandalous…” She trailed off, handing an imaginary microphone to Julin. “The Great Uniter’s secret? Her secret thing? Come on, throw me a bone!”

Julin tried not to sound to bitter. “I never should have told you where I worked before this.”

“Oh please,” Adisa dismissed. “You never would have gotten the job if you hadn’t explained why you just up and quit your gig in Ba Sing Se. Even though you won’t say why you up and quit your thing with Kuvira.” She made puppy eyes, shameless in begging.

“I’ve told you this already. She’s powerful and inspirational. She cares about the people of the Earth Kingdom. But she’s completely ruthless. She’d say anything she thought would get her what she wants. I know she’d start conflict and she courts war. She’s not trustworthy.”

“That’s all useless to me. Our readers don’t want politics, they want drama. She’s temporary as a President, she’ll have to hand it all over once Prince Wu is old enough to become King. But she’ll be a celebrity long after they strip her of her title and kick her to the curb.”

“The coronation can’t come soon enough.” Julin hissed, angry and hurt all over again thinking too much about Kuvira. “She, just, she wasn’t always like that. She didn’t have to be. But she’ll be back to just being a General soon enough. Hopefully the step down will help her some.”

“Julin, you are literally killing me. I am literally, not figuratively, dead right now. Where’s the good stuff? Who did she fight with? Who did she fuck?”

Julin spluttered, caught completely off guard. Adisa’s eyes narrowed, seeing a chink in the exterior Julin had been working so hard to keep up. Underneath she was completely raw, racked with guilt. Guilt for her the path she’d helped Kuvira on, guilt for still caring about her, guilt for hoping that deep down Kuvira still cared about her too.

“You know something.” Adisa accused, determined to pry it out. “You know something! Who is she sleeping with? Here, I’ll guess and you just have to nod to let me know! Was it Bolin?”

Julin rolled her eyes. “She wasn’t sleeping with Bolin.”

“Damn. That would have been really nice since he already has the star power. Nuktuk’s New Lady: A Political Heavyweight and Metalbending Marvel? That would fly off the shelves. I’m too good at this. Ok, wild card, what about Zhu Li Moon? That’s some serious femme fatale vibes right there.”

“Adisa, I don’t want to play this game!”

“Fine, fine. Not Zhu Li. But let me have one last guess. What about Baatar Jr.?”

The laugh that Julin got out of that was the first genuine one she’d had in weeks. It was hard to find any upside to everything she’d done and lost on the train but knowing just how ridiculous the idea of Kuvira and Baatar was almost made all the heartache worth it.

“Thank you for that, Adisa, but no. No way. Off the record, even if he wanted her she would never go for him, she can’t stand Baatar. At all.”

Adisa glared, throwing her hands up. “You’re no fun! Those were my only good options that would really stir shit up. But I swear, I’ve seen like two pictures of him and he’s always staring at her with goo goo eyes. I’m a gossip columnist and even I find it kinda gross and desperate. Five yuan says you’re underestimating my skill at sniffing out a story.”

“You’re on!” Julin agreed, still laughing at just the idea. The moment Adisa left her office, though, Julin made a point to mentally move on from their conversation. She didn’t want to find herself more tangled in strings she did not wanted to pull at than she already was.

It wasn’t that she was upset that Kuvira would move on, although she hadn’t really met anyone in the months she’d lived in Republic City. She was concerned about Kuvira as a person. She cared about her, but more than that she cared about the people who had found themselves at her mercy.

Thinking too much about Kuvira with other people had her thinking about Kuvira still on the train, barreling through the Earth Kingdom. Every minute Julin sat in her office editing tabloid articles was a minute Kuvira was meeting with Generals, giving speeches (maybe even ones Julin had given her), and consolidating her power. Julin’s only solace was that Bolin was still there and hopefully he could steer Kuvira in the right direction.

Julin didn’t know if the Kuvira that she’d met at a party all those months ago was still there, still able to make a soft smile and tell a bad joke. She held out hope, just a little, that they’d see each other again. Get a chance to talk to each other. If Julin had another stab at the conversation she’d messed up to get Kuvira to see that aggression and domination weren’t her only options, then maybe she could change the things she’d set in motion.

There was no way Kuvira could avoid Republic City for her whole Presidency and she had no way of even knowing where Julin had gone. It became part of her new routine, then, to carefully read news about Kuvira to keep tabs on her and to see if there was an opportunity for them to talk again. Each day that passed Julin grew more and more scared Kuvira would reach a point of no return but she couldn’t stop herself from hoping she’d be able to speak to her again.

The longer that went by the more concerning the rumors became, whispers about states being forced to join, suppressed protests, out of control generals and even people suddenly going missing. Julin wished she didn’t believe the stories, there was never quite enough proof to be fully sure, but her gut told her they were real. Learning to trust her gut again had taken the work every day since she’d stepped off the train for the last time.

The alarming reports scared Julin by themselves but they also painted a truly grim picture of the interim President’s trajectory. As the coronation grew closer and Kuvira succeeded in uniting more and more of the Earth Kingdom, Julin began to falter in her assuredness the metalbender would just walk away from her rule like she’d agreed to. 

Rain streaked down the window of Julin’s office on an especially rough morning, hardly one week before the coronation. Julin had been reading an interview with a man who claimed to have seen some kind of collective barracks outside his village in Kun when Adisa came barging into her office. Julin tried to quickly pull up the article about the speculated coronation guest list she was supposed to be reviewing but Adisa wasn’t looking at her desk at all. She just stood there with her hand outstretched, palm up, like she was waiting to be handed something.

“Can I help you with something?” Julin offered, “I’m not done with your article yet but I should have it soon.”

“No, you owe me five yuan. I’m surprised that you didn’t tell me since you say you’re not harboring any loyalty to her or anything but I guess you have your reasons. And it’s not like you owed me a story. But you do owe me five yuan.”

“What did I not tell you, Adisa?”

“I didn’t get to break the Kuvira and Baatar news but the sweet victory of being right about them will help me get over it. That and the five yuan.”

“I’m sorry, the what news?”

“Kuvira and Baatar just announced their engagement? She was having a dip in popularity after something about a weird military facility in the news. So she buried it by announcing they’re getting hitched. It’s really pretty genius and I guess it’ll allow her to end on a high note right before she gets the boot.”

Julin sat in complete shock. She stared at Adisa for what felt like hours, trying for form words. She did not believe it, there was just no way it was possible.

“Earth to Julin?” Adisa prompted, letting her hand fall to her side. Julin clenched her fists under her desk, digging her nails into her palm, letting the bite of pain keep her eyes from watering. She looked back to her friend, helpless and untethered, silently begging to be alone. Luckily, Adisa understood.

“Ok, geez, I was mostly kidding about the yuan. I can see that I’ve struck a nerve somewhere along the line so I’m gonna step out. I’ll cover for you if you want to go home, there’s no way we’re running anything about a guest list now when there’s stuff this juicy to cover.”

“I- yes, thank you. I think I’m just a little surprised. I- really?”

Adisa nodded, watching as Julin tried to pull herself together even though it felt like she’d melted in her chair. What was happening? How could this be happening?

She stumbled out onto the street and into the sprinkling rain. It was the gentleness of the precipitation, coming down like a quiet sheet rather than a downpour, that grounded her. She walked, slowly and not in any particular direction, just to have something to do.

She’d tried her best not to have any illusions about her and Kuvira after everything. They hadn’t spoken in months and the last time they had was ugly. Julin honestly hadn’t thought they would get back together, that would have meant actually being together in the first place.

But she’d wanted to talk to Kuvira, to try to reach her. To explain to her as a friend, and as someone who’d genuinely believed in her, all that she could be. That she could be strong and peaceful, respected and fair, fierce and good. That she was all of those things already.

In her darkest moments, the ones where she was to weak and sad and alone to crush it, she’d had a little fantasy. That she and Kuvira would talk, even fight, but that if she tried hard enough and wanted enough she could make Kuvira see. That if she were able to fit the words together right Kuvira would decide to do the right thing, to correct herself.

And maybe, after their conversation, Kuvira would thank her. She’d reach out and push a stray piece of hair behind Julin’s ear, the way she used to when they’d first met. When they’d fallen- when they’d cared about each other like they used to. Maybe they’d mean something together again, if Kuvira could be the person Julin hoped she could. If Julin could just reach her. 

But now? Julin didn’t know what to make of her. That dream felt further away than it ever had before. She wanted the wanting to leave her but if felt frozen instead, clogged in her chest but too sharp, cutting at her with every beat of her heart.

She let herself mourn for the duration of the walk home. That was how long she was allowed to pity herself, until the cold wetness hurt more than the news of Kuvira’s engagement to Baatar. Her shoes were already starting to soak through.

Had she ever meant anything to Kuvira or was the older woman just toying with her the whole time? Why would she have done that? What would have happened to them if Julin had stayed on the train? There wasn’t any other logical conclusion; Kuvira was still doing whatever it took to win. But what was there left to win?

It hit her, then, what Kuvira was going to do. There is no way she would agree to marry a man she hated unless he had something to offer her goals. Kuvira would only get engaged to Baatar if she was going to refuse to step down as President. Julin was sure of it in her bones.

She stood in her apartment, dripping onto her floor, truly heartbroken but really sure of herself for the first time in a long time. She wasn’t sure what would come next but she finally knew herself again, who she was and what she stood for.

Julin made it back to work the next day but with no intention of actually working. She spent the day fitting the pieces she’d been missing into place. It made sense, then, why Kuvira had stayed away from Republic City so pointedly- she was avoiding Prince Wu and the United Republic Council. 

The desperation in the President’s moves as the days passed by became increasingly apparent, it looked like she was on a rampage. Kuvira needed to be in a secure position, completely airtight, if she was going to refuse to step down. She was clearly scrambling to reunite the last remaining pieces of the Earth Kingdom and by the time Kuvira’s train started speeding west, to Republic City, there was only holdout remaining: Zaofu. Julin was sure that made the “Great Uniter”’s blood boil like nothing else. 

She could tell Kuvira was gearing up for her big showdown in Republic City. She had to come to the coronation and step down or face whatever confrontation she’d planned. There was no way Julin wouldn’t be there, she had to see it for herself.

She imagined a public audience would suit Kuvira best, give her control and make it difficult for anyone to interfere with her and whatever she wanted to say. The coronation would be the perfect setting. Adisa looked shocked when Julin asked if she could come with her to watch, but agreed nonetheless.

“I mean, sure, I’m surprised you even want to come at all. We’ll be working, theoretically, and the monarchy isn’t really your thing.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely not a government style I really subscribe to,” Julin agreed. “But I think it’ll be eventful, something worth seeing. They’re marketing it as a once in a lifetime event, you know? The press seats will be the best ones anyways.”

“And she’ll be there,” Adisa responded, not needing to say who she was referring to. She looked at Julin knowingly but not expectantly, just letting it hang there, before going back to her typing. 

Clearly Adisa had picked up on Julin’s response to the news of Kuvira’s engagement, someone who knew her much less well would have too. She also could have easily put two and two together about Julin refusing to name names about Kuvira’s romantic interests. It was embarrassing, standing there unable to correct Adisa’s implication, so she didn’t try to.

“Yeah. And she’ll be there.” Now all Julin could do was wait with bated breath until she laid eyes on Kuvira again and go from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! Happy New Year! This chapter covers a huge chunk of time as far as the show is cannonically concerned but I thought I would skip the Julin crying to Phoebe Bridgers months and try to focus on the important stuff. Not that crying to Phoebe Bridgers isn't important (go listen to smoke signals)! She'll see Kuvira again soon, but here she is figuring herself out a bit. Let me know what you think, I appreciate feedback so much!! <3


	11. The Standoff

| Kuvira |

Republic City irritated her more than any place they’d gone on the tour. It seemed haunted, teeming with bad memories even though she’d never been there before. Not helped by the fact the city represents everything that had been taken from Kuvira’s people, from Kuvira, she’s yet to find any redeemable quality.

Not that she would ever in a million years admit it, Kuvira was nervous. Like a child. She was excited and determined, sure, but the stabbing pains of anxiety threaded everything else together. Years of hard work and months of meticulous planning had led to this moment. She’d sacrificed everything she had, her dignity and her privacy. Now all she had to do was not trip at the finish line. Easier said than done.

She’d written the speech herself, careful penmanship marking out what exactly she would say to finally put an end to the mockery of the Earth Kingdom monarchy and her enemies' attempt to remove her from power. The coronation of Prince Wu would only happen over her dead body.

But still, she was a little scared. What if something went wrong? What if her phrasing wasn’t correct? A simple, timid part of her worried she’d never write as effortlessly and convincingly as her former communications head but there was no use thinking about that. There was no room for the traitors of the past, just getting through the would be coronation tomorrow would be work enough.

She was up late, like she always was, working on getting her tone right. For everything to go well she would need to interrupt the coronation in a way that made her look prepared without sounding too canned. Speaking came naturally to her but subtlety did not.

Her focus was interrupted by the sound of her door opening. There was only one person who had the gall to come into her private room without knocking- her “fiancé”. The title made her want to roll her eyes but Baatar had insisted. He was too attached to his vision of them ruling her Earth Empire together, he’d begged her to marry him. Saying ‘yes’ bought her time and more blank checks from the Beifong fortune.

That was maybe the worst thing about Baatar, he had no vision. Whatever was directly in front of him was all he could ever see, ever imagine. It made him all too blind to the fact that she had no love for him, that she would never marry him.

She also doubted that, deep down, he actually loved her. He was much more interested in the idea of her, the power and rebellion from his mother that she represented, than he was in Kuvira as an actual person. Either way, it didn’t matter. She was almost ready to stand on her own, as she should, and he was interrupting her work.

“What do you want?” she asked, not at all hiding her frustration at his arrival.

He sighed, ever the dramatic one. “I just wanted to see you, Kuvs.” He stared at her for a while, apparently expecting a response. Reciprocation? He could not have picked worse timing, clearly she was busy. When she didn’t say anything back to him he tried again. “Is there anything I can help do to prepare for tomorrow?”

She knew what she had to do in order to be left alone. “Thank you, dear.” He lit up immediately. “Could you talk to Varrick and Zhu Li, make sure they’ve packed up all his research and will be ready to leave tomorrow after I speak?” It was an errand she knew would take him hours, Varrick hadn’t packed a single piece of equipment.

“Of course, my love,” he answered, so eager to be of use to her. “I’ll take care of it.”

Kuvira smiled. She’d learned how to make the perfect one for every occasion in her more than a year on the road. She walked over to Baatar, placed a hand on his chest. This close to him she could see his pupils dilate as he stared at her. “Thank you, Baatar.” She kissed him on the cheek and watched him walk out the door.

She put in almost no effort, but moments like this kept him following after her like a kicked dog. He was so desperate for love that he’d take scraps and be grateful for it. She would have felt bad for the pathetic man if he wasn’t so snivelling and smarmy, trying to use her to elevate himself. 

The empty, flippant gestures she offered him wound up taunting her. She did not let him touch her often but when she did it teased her, leaving her more frustrated and pent up then before. Every minute she spent with him drove her up a wall. She craved something more real, with substance.

The day had been long already and as exciting as tomorrow would be there was nothing else Kuvira could do to prepare now. She put away her speech, bent herself out of her uniform, and lay down to go to sleep. Thirty minutes later and she was still wide awake, she had always struggled to turn her brain off.

In these moments, when playing pretend with Baatar dug at her too much and left her hollow, she thought of Julin. It was embarrassing and made her a hypocrite for sneering at Baatar for taking comfort in a fantasy, but Kuvira couldn’t stop herself. 

It always started with her eyes, expressive in ways Kuvira could never be even with words. They were always angry, dark and narrowed under creased eyebrows. No matter how hard she tried Kuvira couldn’t begin the scenario any other way, couldn’t start to picture Julin without the memory of their last fight.

She imagined Julin was in her room then, chest heaving and face burning with misplaced self righteousness. If only she could see Kuvira now, all the things she’d accomplished once she’d set aside the cautious, childless morals Julin had been so desperate to force on her. Kuvira imagined telling her.

“There is no more dissenter problem, I have the reunification handled, and tomorrow I’m going to announce the Earth Empire to the world. I made it all, I built it from nothing. It’s all mine.”

Julin would need to be negative in her response. She’d want to lecture, she would probably start with something like “Kuvira, please don’t do this. Just give up and throw all your hard work away and abandon everyone who needs you. You aren’t being nice enough to your enemies.”

Kuvira would laugh, then, at the performance Julin was making. “Julin, you precious little thing,” she’d say. She’d reach out and push back the hair that tried so desperately to cover Julin’s beautiful face. “You’re so pretty when you’re outraged.”

The brunette’s eyes would flash with anger, then. She’d square her slight frame to Kuvira’s broad one and set her jaw. Spit out something along the lines of “How dare you.”

As Kuvira imagined them, together, heated and in each other’s faces, she slid her hands down the front of her pants. She touched herself, letting the fantasy play out.

She’d grab Julin’s jaw then but the younger woman, always so stubborn, would lock it. She’d glare up at Kuvira from her grasp, pinned. Kuvira would lean in, just a little, implying more than initiating a kiss. Julin’s eyes would flutter, then widen. The Great Uniter would smirk in response, knowing she has her.

Letting go of her jaw, Kuvira would give her a few inches, exhaling. Then Julin would grab her, tangle her fingers into Kuvira’s hair and kiss her hard. The floodgates would finally open, Kuvira’s hands on Julin’s hips and thigh between her legs. It would be all force and no grace, their teeth clashing before Kuvira would catch the brunette’s bottom lip and bite down.

She’d suck on her tongue and moan out her name. She’d use her thigh to grind into Julin’s center, to make her cry out and grab onto Kuvira’s shoulders. She’d tear off her clothes, shredding everything that dared to exist as a barrier between them. Julin would wear the dress she wore when she came to Kuvira’s old house in Ba Sing Se, and the black lace things she’d worn underneath it.

Kuvira would ball up her fist in the brown waves of Julin’s hair, pull back hard enough to make her cry out. She’d answer with a growl, she’d bite the exposed neck and then kiss it better. She’d take Julin apart, make her hiss and moan and writhe against her body, despite everything else they feel about each other.

She’s pretty sure she hates her, but Kuvira imagines her hands are Julin’s, imagines what she would do. How, impatiently, they make their way to a bed, sweating and swearing. Julin would pin her down, thrusting her hand down Kuvira’s body and against her cunt. She’d litter Kuvira’s chest with marks, sucked harshly into her skin.

She wouldn’t tease, putting two fingers into Kuvira as soon as she’s able. The touch feels amazing, electricity making her toes curl. Using her thumb on Kuvira’s clit would send them speeding towards a cliff, like the brakes were cut. She calls out the younger woman’s name, not begging but closer to it than she ever lets herself come.

Her thighs are shaking as Julin hands curl in her, bringing her closer and closer to the edge. She’s angry, and hurt, and so wet. And then she’s coming, an orgasm that shakes through her and leaves her breathless on her bed.

Coming back to herself is bittersweet. The feeling of her own fingers, cramped and wet, is grounding. She can’t let herself leave reality for too long, the dreaming cannot last. Her body misses her but she can’t trust Julin. She ignores the way her stomach aches when she thinks about the younger woman for too long, nothing is worth compromising her mission for.

She’s grateful, in a way, to Julin for showing her that. For reminding her that the only person who has her back is herself. That everyone would cheat and hurt her if given the chance, and that her only hope is to cheat and hurt others first. She’s actually looking forward to tomorrow, to the chance to strike first decisively.

And she was finally ready.

She took her seat on the stage at the coronation, confident that the snivelling Prince she’d met the other day had no idea just what was about to hit him. Being forced to mingle with the other attendees, Tenzin, the Fire Lord, had grated at her, but she was almost done pretending to care about their opinions. They were her enemies as far as she was concerned, and so was anyone else who would dare to undermine her.

Impatient to begin she looked out into the crowd, excited to see a sizeable audience of her supporters wearing her signature dark green. There was admittedly pitiful attendance, but none of that would matter after news spreads of her-

Amber eyes, more vibrant than she’d remembered them. She forced herself to keep scanning over the press section but there was no way her stare would have gone unnoticed by the owner of those unbelievable eyes.

The seconds dragged by, painstakingly, until Kuvira could look over again. Julin was sitting, her brown hair tied back, looking at someone else on the stage. Her hands were folded on her lap, holding a pen, and she kept fidgeting with it.

The person next to her, a young woman with short black hair and the same Fire Nation coloring as the person Kuvira couldn’t tear her eyes away from, leaned in to Julin’s ear to whisper something. They shared a laugh and Kuvira looked away. She couldn’t hear anything over the sound of blood rushing in her ears.

How dare that woman show up here, after abandoning Kuvira and their shared mission. What made her think she could come to this coronation, that she could pretend to care about the people of the Earth Empire? She’d made very clear how she felt, that she was unwilling to get her hands dirty but was more than happy to blame Kuvira for doing what had to be done.

She returned her gaze then to Julin, met her stare head on. Julin’s face flushed when Kuvira looked at her, not in lust but in anger. Kuvira narrowed her eyes, half tempted to bend the metal blades out of her uniform in warning. They glared at each other, neither willing to be the first one to look away. 

Kuvira had no idea when Julin had come to Republic City. She didn’t know what had made her come to the coronation of this idiot pretender. She didn’t know why they were having a show down in the middle of what would be a minor political ceremony if Kuvira wasn’t planning to overturn it. She didn’t know what she would say if they were close enough to hear each other.

What she did know was that she could never know the answers to these questions. She looked away, not in defeat but in determination. She was done pretending, lying to herself, that her soft spot for the nonbender wasn’t a problem. It was time to close that door and lock it. She would never let herself think of this woman, this thorn in her side, again.

Julin had abandoned her, like everyone else, but showed up here, in the eleventh hour. If Julin was out to mock her, to hurt her, she had succeeded. But the reminder that nobody cared about Kuvira or would look out for her but herself was welcome.

The speeches began, but Kuvira barely heard a word. She’d gone back to rehearsing the real speech, the one she was about to give. It was time for the gloves to come off. Her empire, her ambition, her people deserved her full attention. She was prepared to give it to them.

Wu called her up to the front of the stage, tried to mock her and shove her out with some meaningless medal. It almost made her laugh. She was ready to watch everything burn, the ashes of her past would feed her future. If Julin had come here for a show she was about to get one. Kuvira smiled at Wu and turned to the crowd, to her subjects.

“Thank you, and if you don’t mind I’d like to say a few words.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kuvira is very angry at the world. She's using that to justify doing horrible things. I hope that's coming across here? Anyways, feedback is always welcomed! Thank you so much for reading <333


End file.
